a, ,
.11 1|.
{oi-.13..

1.932;. .F\
:9} .aruk’

.uunumuuq¢

it!!!" f

w:

:.

. i.
3“": ul . .

..i .u 10.. .
.er‘l pfiltuftVQI-le‘ihl.’ .

?£;.'I.Av‘thfi‘flc’ ;. A

({i-fi'fui‘.4'n .5“...- lvttll. llkr r’!..v rt .
3 .3. ..‘ 0.321.. Bonfirrvuii 3),?!»4».

. 3:203:315355 3903*! .i..1.~.at:v A) .t
3, E. .iGKvJ-flvrfé viii¢lsol r41- 79?» ’1!!!
'32:... 9 {5.6:}... 'c A ggcbilp.

Sixrri' ill;.4 If gait-2.4!!! I...“ 311:7..5:
‘. \n‘ . “Jill I‘VE! ’: II‘KIES. us‘l‘cé‘
.5. .frin...” 1.3359: :4 filo”: .
I 2 Fri ‘f-MA'Q-‘t I
5-}! 6:7... 5... ‘09»!!! .
A F. "KC ilttltt. V vir.nsl.§t..¥u"7 I.
'. Vile; , . I: ,-.I-I>.:v'f. 1“»,
all...
szx

‘ ., I. 1.233771

. . 1..."... . , . .1. g .33. 2. .P

.Luuuua ‘ . . . Jnuuw.uu«r..ay.,.xau.‘ - .
.2. I. V ‘ ‘ . . ‘ . unwrixnsihu
3...! ‘ . ‘ . ‘ 22.“!

bu. . .

ten;
. ‘ la . .
I551 slut-ctr... . :vl. (1‘
u. ‘ 1...}.39! {3.13 .- In
'3fi Z... - 3' A 1 l..rl. ore-'w 5’.
4 9‘ 9. in; . Pfilzu’ .
xii-t. 10.1.4 Ire. 5' 4 . rzfiui Fu‘!....r .
n It. .fligiv. 1.); «la! .il int » u lie v!vl.0..0 .1 .3
u .55.. . (l. .V p : 4:13.312... . ? 1.3.1! .69-.. 3 .6;
I n! Isl§6tg232frilis L. w. : v.
sh. i? «it Cutnalltc‘p fatal r. .
.l

.. 5.! .- ‘f‘! r? L..:LnVK
a . . .

1»
(Till-8’2
£00.55!» .1!“ .»
.fil€:\.t..n£r!!lt4: 55:219.. .. uvleuu ‘5.
.filaxtcvlycctie: #1 ‘1. :e
.. ‘9...r’.m!~:l58.rl
:réni ,i ‘
ital-V 1h}.
, I: n 3903 ..
u; ‘29:.I’Iil‘ ‘VIvt
1.4!...) Ava} .
If! 13‘. .. a .

I." #7 :u
’13.!!! ‘1’:
1:. fl... :3 h..-

9 an! :3: 5» 5;!)
.5!!! Lax: nail: .3...va {53:11.13
5V.I.la).£t?.r..?1ll!‘.07 .9! ho...‘i.€..ll€r~
l‘.‘.¥O-r"4‘l!..~"z‘
1

III» Evil}... I}
it... 7.3.2.3. {ill-sic

«’01.? , a

tip! ‘

lv7n..n
,! 33.5..

 

 

9.. 0.
I... 43!-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.1‘

All 101‘): .3
.l..o'....v I .

Emmi:

' iiéiiz

 

AN STATE U W LIBRAR

112M mummmmunumflifiu

93 00753 0011

Mill;

 

LIBRARY
Michigan State
University

 

 

 

This is to certify that the
dissertation entitled
Literacy as Viewed By Muslims

Living in America

presented by
Juma Salem Njadat

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph.D. degree in English

 

 

Date L;/;7~-27/C70

MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0. 12771

 

. w

PIACE IN RETURN BOX to remove thls checkout from your record.
TO AVOID FINES return on or baton date duo.

DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

usu Is An Afflmmlvo ActioNEqual Oppoflunily Institution
cw

puns-9.1

 

L; +_

LITERACY AS VIEWED BY MUSLIMS
LIVING IN-AMERICA

by

Juma Salem Njadat

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of English
1990

ABSTRACT

LITERACY AS VIEWED BY MUSLIMS
LIVING IN AMERICA

by

Juma Salem Njadat

This study examines the views of a group of Muslims
living in the 0.8. on six issues pertaining to literacy: its
meaning, origin, value and ‘uses, objectives, methods of
promotion among the group and among Muslims in general, and
Muslim. ‘women's right to literacy; A. qualitative
methodological approach.combining an.open-ended.questionnaire
and participant observation techniques was used in this study
for collecting and analyzing data.

The study .found that the views expressed by the
participants on the six issues examined were holistic and
religion-based. The study also found that members of the
group surveyed relied on their faith, Islam, as a primary
motivational and.cultural support for their views and practice
of literacy. I

Based on these findings, the study concludes that
literacy and educational programs, particularly in Muslim
countries, should be sensitive to the religious beliefs and

values of the groups targeted by these programs, both in their

design and in their content. The study also concludes that
literacy programs and campaigns should utilize religious
beliefs as a starting point in order to motivate substantial
numbers of people in Muslim countries to join these programs
and campaigns.

The study has three pedagogical implications. First, it
suggests further awareness by educational institutions about
the existence of the‘group described and.others similar to it.
Secondly, it suggests that teachers may need to become more
enlightened about the religious beliefs of their students,
particularly those beliefs relating to literacy and education.
Third, the study suggests that religious institutions like the
one described may contribute positively to schools,
particularly in the area of promoting students' motivation for
literacy, and that schools and religious institutions might
consider cooperating for this purpose. A

The study presents other possible ideas for further
research. It suggests further investigation of the
relationship between literacy and religion and the relevance
of this relationship in specific situations. Further, it
suggests the exploration of the role of other institutions,

such as religion in literacy programs and campaigns.

DEDICATION

To Allah

”0 my Lord! advance me in knowledge"

(Qura'n, 20:114)

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my thanks and gratitude, first
and foremost to my Creator, who provided me with everything
that I needed to complete this work. I thank my beloved
parents for their countless favors and my dear wife, Widad,
for her support and sacrifices.

I thank Dr. Paul E. Munsell, my academic advisor. I
would also like to extend my thanks and respect to the members
of my guidance committee: Dr. Marcellete G. Williams, Dr.
Howard Anderson, and Dr. Stephen N. Tchudi for their help and

support.

List of Tables

Appendices

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Literature Review

Introduction

Statement of Purpose

Review of the Related Literature

Literature Dealing With Basic Issues
and Assumptions in the Field
of Literacy

Literature Dealing with Religion
and Its Relationship to Literacy

Methodological Approach

Research Questions
Research Plan
Analysis

Stylistic Conventions

The Study

Setting

Participants

Results

Meaning of Literacy

Origin of Literacy

Value and Uses of Literacy
Objectives of Literacy

Methods of Promoting Literacy
Muslim Women's Rights to Literacy
Discussion

Conclusions and Implications

Limitations of the Study
Implications and Ideas for Further
Research

vi

H

O‘LON

A. Questionnaire 85

Correspondence 95

B. Participants' Categorized Responses and 97
Comments

Bibliography/General References 133

vii

Table

2.

Participants'

Participants'

LIST OF TABLES

Personal Information

Religious Practicing Data

viii

CHAPTER I

BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter is divided into four sections. The
introduction explains the need for broadening the scope of
literacy so that it covers views and practices of literacy in
all existing cultural and ideological contexts. The second
section is the statement of purpose which describes the
purpose of the study and the group surveyed. In the third
section, I review the literature dealing with three prominent
issues pertaining to literacy: its meaning, value, and
methods of promotion. The discussion is focused in this
section on the reasons that are relevant to the prominence of
these issues and the major approaches dealing with them. The
fourth section reviews the literature dealing with religion

and its relationship to literacy.

Introduction

...the problem is not with definitions, or the lack
of them, but with the continuing dearth of
substantive knowledge about the role and value of
different types of literacy for various groups and
in various contexts . . . The logical argument is
for more research (J.C. Cairns, 1978, p. 23).

2

In these statements, Cairns expresses what I have felt
for some time, namely the need for expanding investigations
of literacy beyond typical "groups" and typical "contexts."
As to the lack of "substantive knowledge" on literacy in non-
Western, or non-industrialized contexts, this lack, I believe,
might be obvious to anyone who has tried to find research on
literacy in such contexts. I have experienced it first-hand
on various occasions.

Further, based on a number of discussions on literacy
that I have heard, and on my own examination of a number of
writings on literacy, I have developed a sense that what has
been written on literacy so far, particularly in the West,
mostly reflects and addresses views and concerns in Western
societies and cultures.

I am certainly not the first one to make this
observation. Brian Street (1984) makes a similar point in
his review of some of the major works on literacy: "Literacy
is treated as a single homogeneous thing, its variety and
relation to different social conditions is reduced to
statistical measures and economic functions" (p. 13).

The emphasis on Western and industrialized contexts in
the study of literacy, while understandable, given the leading
role that Western and industrialized nations have had in the
last two centuries, and the fact that most of the studies on
literacy have emanated from these nations, cannot be totally

justified for other reasons. First, as Street points out, it

3

is at least questionable whether we can treat literacy as "a
single homogeneous thing" that is the same in all human
cultures and societies, and. across all ideologies.
Additionally, whether literacy is "a single homogeneous thing"
or a multi-dimensional heterogeneous concept can only be
clarified by studying literacy in all of the various cultural
and ideological contexts that exist today.

Secondly, since literacy is usually presumed to have an
instrumental role in solving some human problems, it is
logical then to expect that the study of literacy will become
universal in its scope so that it can benefit and help human
beings everywhere in the world. Finally, going beyond a
limited number of typical contexts in the study of literacy
can be justified on methodological grounds for purposes of
comparison and contrast, and in order to make the study of

literacy as comprehensive and as empirical as possible.

Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the views held
on literacy by a particular group of people who share a common
religious faith, Islam, and who currently live in the United
States of America. Within this frame, I have studied the
group's views on.six issues related to literacy: its meaning,
origin, value, and uses, objectives, the best methods for

fostering and promoting it among the group's members and among

4
Muslims in general, and the rights that Muslim women have for
acquiring literacy.

This type of study might be useful to the current debate
on literacy in several ways. First, it is a practical
response to the call made by Cairns and others, as previously
mentioned, for further research on literacy "among various
groups and in various contexts" (Cairns, 1978).

The group surveyed in this study has four characteristics
that make it a suitable population for this type of study.
First, it is made up of individuals who represent various
linguistic and ethnic backgrounds with religion, i.e., Islam
being the main unifying factor. Therefore, by exploring the
views shared by these people, the study clarifies the role
that religion in particular and ideology in general play in
shaping people's views and attitudes toward literacy.
Secondly, the group is made up of individuals who are directly
involved with literacy. As I will explain later, most of the
members in this group are students who will most likely make
their living by using their literacy resources. It might be
suitable therefore to see if this factor has any relevance to
the participants' views on literacy.

Third, the group represents a unique area of
investigation because it is in some respects a relatively
recent phenomenon in the American society. Like many of the
Muslim communities that are now forming in many parts of the

U.S., this group began evolving in the 19703 when increasing

5

numbers of international students began to arrive. Also, the
mosque which represents the center of this group was built in
1979. Thus, in.historical as well as organizational terms the
group is still a recent phenomenon. Because of this factor,
the literature indicates that groups such as this one have not
received any significant attention in the research on
literacy. Fourth, by surveying this group, the study
highlights some aspects of the changes that might occur in
people's views and attitudes towards literacy as a result of
immigration and adaptation to different cultural and religious
settings. Considering all of these variables, this particular
group and others like it across the U.S. may become one of the
new frontiers in literacy investigation.

A second way in which this study can contribute to our
knowledge is in its relevance to the field of foreign and
second language teaching where understanding cultural and
religious factors is crucial for both teaching and learning
processes. Similarly, the study has some relevance to reading
theory, particularly schema theory, which suggests that
cultural and religious schemata play an important role in the
process of comprehension (Carrell, 1987). Finally, the study
will especially be relevant for literacy programs and
campaigns in Muslim countries, mainly because there is
currently an intense debate going on about the most suitable
and effective methods for promoting literacy and reforming

educational policies and programs.

Review of Related Literature

Two types of literature have influenced this study. The
first type includes investigations of basic prominent issues
in the study of literacy, such as meaning, value and the
appropriate methods used for promoting literacy and solving
illiteracy problems. The second type of literature includes
writings that focus on religion and its relationship to
literacy. Some of the works reviewed in this chapter deal
with both of these issues. Such works will therefore be cited
under both headings.

Literature Dealing with Prominent Basic
Issues in the Field of Literacy

This section. examines the treatment in ‘the related
literature of three major issues in literacy: meaning or
definition, value, and promotion. These issues were chosen,
because they are among the main issues examined in this study
and also because they seem to dominate in most of the related
literature. The discussion mainly focuses on three types of
reasons for the dominance of these issues in the literature.
The first type includes a reaction in the literature to the
popular misconception about the broader issues related to
literacy. The second type consists of methodological and
conceptual reasons. The third type consists of historical

reasons, mainly the emergence of newly independent countries

7
and their experience with promoting literacy for
modernization.

There are three types of reasons underlying the obvious
interest in explaining the meaning, value, and methods of
promoting literacy, and the huge amount of space devoted in
the literature for these issues. The first type includes
reasons that relate to the popular misunderstanding of what
literacy is all about. Literacy is a term that is frequently
used by many peOple. However, it may not be an exaggeration
to say that many of those who frequently use the term are in
fact unaware of its broader meanings, problems, and
implications. Literacy is often viewed, especially by those
who are not directly involved in the academic debate, as a
plain term that does not need or does not evoke much
sophisticated arguments. Its meaning is usually reduced to
the mere skill of transcription, or reading and writing, as
it is defined in many dictionaries.

This popular' misconception. of the meaning and
implications of literacy has been enhanced by at least three
factors. First, as mentioned above, there is the role of
dictionaries which for lack of space or for other reasons
usually define literacy in the general terms of
reading/writing, a definition that obscures many of the
essential components and implications of the term. Secondly,
the fact that the transcription skill is "the most visible

component of literacy" as Tuman (1987) notes does seem to

8

contribute to this popular misconception of the term. Third,
because literacy (at least its reading/writing dimension) has
become so rooted in the daily lives of many people, they tend
to take it for granted and do not feel the need to think much
about its deeper and broader issuese Thus, given this popular
misconception or simplistic view of literacy, it is not
surprising therefore to find many of those who write on
literacy devote significant portions in their writings for
explaining the issues of literacy meaning, value, and methods
of promotion.

The second type of reasons for the dominance of these
three issues in the literature includes methodological and
conceptual reasons. Like any academic field of knowledge, the
study of literacy is expected to have a defined phenomenon
that should be described. Ideally, this requirement implies
that there is a need for finding a universal, precise and
clear-cut definition of literacy and establishing accurate
measurements for it. It also implies that as an object of
scientific investigation, literacy has to be approached as an
independent, neutral phenomenon.

The concern over this methodological requirement and the
desire to imitate the methodology used in applied sciences
have undoubtedly been reflected in some of the writings on
literacy, especially earlier writings. This is particularly
true of writings by those called by Street (1984) proponents

of the "autonomous model of literacy” (p. 19). This list

9
includes Goody and.Watt (1957) in which the writers discussed
literacy as an independent phenomenon that has certain
individual and social "consequences" such as individualistic
tendencies and division of labor (p. 339). Also included in
this list is David Olson who, in his (1977) essay associated
literacy with some effects, such as logical reasoning and the
development of a certain form of written language called the
"British essayists technique" which Olson claimed, has been
suitable for objective scientific investigation (pp. 270-278) .
In his description.of the autonomous model of literacy Street
(1984) summarized the central views that have been proposed
by writers who represent this orientation:
The model assumes a single direction in which
literacy development can be traced, and associates
it with 'progress,‘ 'civilization,‘ individual
liberty and social mobility. It attempts to
distinguish literacy from schooling. It isolates
literacy as an independent variable and then claims
to be able to study its consequences. These
consequences are classically represented in terms
of economic 'take-off' or in terms of cognitive
skills (p. 2).
Thus, although some of the writers described in this category
may not explicitly say it, it is obvious from their
description of literacy and their emphasis on treating it as
"an independent variable” that they have been trying to
satisfy the methodological requirement described thus far and
employ scientific techniques used in other applied fields to

describe this phenomenon. However, despite the tangible

progress that has been achieved in describing literacy using

10

this type of methodology, there is a strong indication that
approaching literacy in this manner is not adequate.

Literacy, as many have now realized, cannot totally be
approached as an autonomous and neutral phenomenon or concept.
It has also become evident that approaching literacy with the
assumption that it is a single homogenous thing that must have
universally applicable definition and standards of measurement
is, at least in the present time, an unrealistic approach.
Similarly, the assumption that people everywhere value
literacy for a specific set of reasons, and the assumption
that literacy can be promoted in human societies by the use
of a specific number of methods have been found inaccurate.
These conclusions are expressed in various ways in the works
that I describe shortly.

However, what must be noted here is that the emergence
of these notions about the nature of literacy represents a
major intellectual and. methodological shift in literacy
investigation. This shift is clearly manifested in the
adoption of a new approach for investigating literacy which
incorporates these new ways of describing the meaning, value
and methods of promoting literacy. For convenience, I shall
use the phrase, ”relativist approach” to designate this new
mode of describing and investigating literacy.

In sharp contrast to the "autonomous model" of
literacy, which emphasized the independence and neutrality of

literacy and the universality of its meaning, value standards,

11
and methods of promotion, the relativist approach views these
issues in relation to the social, cultural, political, and
ideological contexts in which literacy exists. This major
characteristic of the relativist approach is clearly reflected
in the treatment of literacy meaning, value, and methods of
promotion in the writings that represent this approach.
First, in the area of meaning or definition, most of the
writers who adhere to this approach, contend that at the
present time, it is practically difficult, if not virtually
impossible to find a universal definition of literacy. This
view was expressed by Cairns (1978) who declared that "there
is no definition which is universally accepted and
internationally applicable" (p. 23). Harman (1987) expressed
a similar view:
Literacy . . . is not the same thing to all people
at all times. It is not a fixed set of skills that,
once acquired, becomes permanent. It is, instead,
a concept that assumes different definitions in
different places, at different times, as conditions
warrant. Consequently, different contexts and
groups evolve definitions of literacy that have a
diversity of content and strive to inculcate those
definitions among their members. In this regard,
literacy has amoebic qualities, constantly changing
shape in response to need and challenges (p. 96).
As might be clear in this description, after realizing
the futility of finding a ”universally accepted” definition
of literacy, most of the relativist writers have emphasized

the need for defining literacy in relation to the social,

¢3ultural, and ideological contexts in which it exists.

12
Scribner (1988) described the relevance of social contexts to
the definition of literacy:
The enterprise of defining literacy, therefore,
becomes one of assessing what counts as literacy in
the modern epoch in some given social context. If
a nation-society is the context, this enterprise
requires that consideration be given to the
functions that the society in question.has invented
for literacy and their distribution throughout the
populace (p. 72).
The relevance of ideological and cultural contexts for the
definition of literacy was emphasized by Street (1984) in his
description of the "ideological model" which he introduced as
an alternative to the autonomous model of literacy:
Those who subscribe to this model concentrate on the
specific social practices of reading and writing.
They recognize the ideological and therefore
culturally embedded nature of such practices (p. 2) .
Secondly, this relativist trend is also applied in the
treatment of literacy value. As described earlier, older
approaches, especially the "autonomous model" emphasized the
use of certain criteria for judging the value of literacy and
assumed that such criteria were valid in every context.
Several studies including Goody and Watt (1957), Goody (1968),
Anderson (1965), Schuman et a1. (1967), and Olson (1977)
associated literacy with some favorable social, economic, and
psychological results claiming that such results were
observable and determinable in "literate" societies. Among
several things, these writers emphasized the value of literacy

for producing results like economic and social development,

"individual liberty,” and receptiveness to modern and

l3
democratic ideas (e.g., Street, p. 2). Such favorable results
have been emphasized as principal criteria for describing the
value of literacy in every context.

The relativist approach, by contrast, has stressed the
role of social, cultural, and ideological variables in
determining the value of literacy in a particular context (see
Street, 1984; Scribner and Cole, 1981; Hunter and Harman,
1979; and Scribner, 1988). Moreover, some of the central
assumptions that have been made by proponents of the
autonomous model about the universality of literacy value have
been questioned and even challenged by proponents of the
relativist approach. For example, the assumption that there
is a correlation between literacy levels and economic growth
in human societies has been questioned by Graff (1978) who
supported his view by the findings of a study conducted by
McClelland (1966). McClelland's study, according to Graff,
suggested that:

Education and economic growth-~need not be
collateral or sequential processes, productivity and
wealth do not necessarily follow from mass literacy,
as the histories of Sweden and Scotland demonstrate.
Both achieved near universal literacy before the

nineteenth century, but both remained desperately
poor (p. 14).

Graff made a similar point on the value of literacy for
promoting democratic values, which is another assumption made
by proponents of the autonomous model. He maintained that
while literacy may indirectly contribute to democratic rule,

"Literacy can and has been employed for social control and for

14

political repression as well” (p. 19). The assumption that
literacy is capable of solving social problems which is also
central to the autonomous model has similarly been challenged
by Hunter and Harman (1979) who stated that ”mass literacy
does not cure the corporate ills of a society: unemployment,
poverty, discrimination, or the marginal status of certain
subgroups" (p. 108).

Third, the issue of literacy promotion is another
important area in which older assumptions, particularly those
made by proponents of the autonomous model have been
challenged by the relativist approach. This is particularly
'true of the assumption that the promotion and development of
literacy follows ”a single direction" which is common in the
autonomous model (see Street, p. 2). Rather than assuming
that literacy can be promoted in a uniform fashion across
human societies and groups, proponents of the relativist
approach are now stressing the diversity of methods and
avenues for promoting literacy, depending on the social,
cultural, political, and ideological contexts or variables.
Harman (1970) argued that "literacy efforts cannot be
prescriptive designs adaptable to all countries and areas" (p.
236).

The relevance of social contexts to the promotion of
literacy was emphasized by Hunter and Harman (1979) who
maintained that "individuals are influenced in their

opportunities to acquire literacy skills and, therefore, in

15

the importance they assign to literacy by the values of the
primary social groups to which they belong" (p. 107). As to
the importance of cultural contexts, Harman (1987) stressed
the role of what he called ”cultural supports" in promoting
literacy: "Literacy is not just a technical ability: it is
a consciousness that must be internalized before an individual
can be available for instruction. In the absence of any
cultural supports, 'new' literacy wanes almost as soon as it
wakes" (p. 24).

The role of cultural contexts in promoting literacy was
also recognized by Tuman (1987) who stressed the need for
cultural motivation and use of language as a vehicle for
creative ideas:

...the future of literacy in the United States and
in other countries at comparable stages of economic
development is finally a question concerned less
with educational practice and more with the
evolution of culture itself. What kind of world are
we in the process of creating for ourselves? The
single greatest obstacle to the development of
literacy is people's lack of psychological
motivation to form ever-deepening symbolic
representations. Literacy seems to flourish only
in the rarest historical circumstances, when from
an active interest in shaping their own future,
people are encouraged not just to recite and copy
down what is already known but to read and write for
themselves (pp. 171-172).

Political contexts are no less important for the
development and promotion of literacy. The importance of
these contexts was explained by Cairns (1978) who argued that:

Whatever the role of literacy, and whatever its
content and methodology, no effective policies can

be developed unless the political will exists.
Without policies, there will be no effective

16

programs; the result will be the ad hoc amateurism

that has characterized so much basic education and

so many literacy campaigns of the Third World during

the 1950s and 19608 . . .. the value of national

political will was evident in the literacy

experience of the U.S.S.R., China, and Cuba (p. 23).
Cairns also emphasized the need for making literacy programs
"endogenous” both in content and methodology for children in
Third World countries (p. 25).

The third type of reasons that explain the dominance of
the three basic issues of literacy meaning, value and methods
of promotion in the literature includes historical reasons.
The most important andumost relevant of these is the emergence
of newly independent states after the ‘wane of’ military
colonization after World War II. The terms "third world
countries" and "developing countries" have often been used to
describe many of these countries. I shall therefore use the
terms "newly independent states" and "third world countries"
interchangeably to refer to these countries without implying
any value judgment on what the terms mean. The terms are
chosen only because they are common and for the lack of
neutral terms.

The emergence of these countries is relevant to the
discussion of literacy meaning, value, and promotion because
these countries have provided a testing ground for many of the
assumptions about literacy that were put forward by proponents

of the autonomous model. Besides, the methodological and

conceptual changes described so far, and.the continuous debate

17
over the three basic issues at hand, have to a significant
degree, been stimulated by the experimentation with literacy
for development in these countries. The link between the
current debate over these issues and the experimentation with
literacy in Third World countries will become obvious after
some background on this experimentation.

After achieving their national independence, many
countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have realized the
need for fostering and promoting literacy among their
citizenry. Since then, the goal of promoting literacy and
achieving what is called “universal literacy," i.e. providing
literacy for all citizens, has been a top national priority
in most of these newly independent countries (see Harman,
1987, p. 25). Obviously, for these countries, achieving
universal literacy has not been regarded as an objective in
itself as much as it has been regarded as a means for
satisfying the immediate need for literate people and
achieving development, particularly in the economic and social
spheres.

On the one hand, the immediate post-independence period
in these countries was characterized by an urgent need for
people with literacy skills in order to fill the bureaucratic
positions that became vacant after the departure of the
colonizing powers. This situation along with the problem of
high illiteracy rates among the populations and its

consequences have undoubtedly accelerated the efforts of

18
governments in these countries to promote literacy using
various ways and means (Harman, 1987, p. 23).

On the other hand, the governments and people of these
countries have set for themselves some long-term objectives
which they wanted to achieve through the promotion of literacy
among their populations. The most important of these has been
the achievement of modernization and development, particularly
in the economic and social spheres. With these objectives in
mind, the political leaders in these countries have apparently
been convinced that achieving maximal rates of literacy in
their societies is a prerequisite. Harman (1987) summarized
the views that prevailed over these issues in most of these
countries:

Newly independent, impatient to develop economic
infrastructures and activity, anxious to modernize,
most countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
regard literacy and schooling as necessary for
achieving their goals. They accept without question
the wisdom offered by the distinguished Swedish
economist Gunner Myrdal: 'Obviously, advances in
literacy and advances in economic development are
interconnected (p. 23).

As Harman pointed out, in their efforts to promote
literacy in order to achieve economic and social development,
the governments in these countries were operating on certain
assumptions about literacy that are characteristic of the
autonomous model. Many of the proponents of this model did
support the assumption that literacy contributes to economic

and social development (e.g., Anderson, 1965 and Schuman et

al, 1967). Moreover, United Nation's Agencies, particularly

19

UNESCO, have been actively engaged in supporting and
sponsoring efforts for promoting literacy in these countries
for similar purposes. This effort is obvious from the
proceedings of the various international conferences and
symposiums that have been sponsored by these agencies and the
huge number of documents on literacy that have been published
by UNESCO over the past four decades (e.g., Bataille, 1976).

Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm in many of the
Third World countries to promote literacy and achieve
modernization, the results that most of them have achieved so
far are less than substantial. Current estimates of
illiteracy rates in these countries indicate that many of them
have not only failed in achieving desirable economic and
social results, but have also failed in reducing the rates of
illiteracy among their populations (UNESCO, 1989).

The UNESCO 1989 Statistical Yearbook indicated that the

 

rate of illiteracy in some Third World countries was as high
as 91.7 percent among males who‘were over fifteen years of age
and 99.8 percent among females of the same age category.
According to the same source, some of these countries not only
failed in promoting literacy among their populations, but also
have failed in maintaining the levels of literacy at the time
when they began their literacy promotion campaigns. This
paradoxical phenomenon has been noted by Harman (1987):
Results of the various efforts have not been
surprising. Rapid return to original states of

illiteracy seemed to be the norm rather than the
exception, Dropout rates among people unaccustomed

20
to classroom rhythm was inordinately high--often
surpassing fifty percent. Teachers themselves were
frequently only barely literate. Despite the strong
motivation to attain universal literacy and the
steps taken to achieve that goal, the results have
been more than disappointing--they have in some ways
been negative (p. 23).
Since this study focused on literacy in an Islamic context,
and since many Muslim countries count for a substantial number
among Third World countries, it may also be relevant to
mention that 50 to 80 percent of the total population in
Muslim countries are illiterate. These figures are based on
a recent statistical report in an Islamic periodical, Al-Amal
(p. 17). The report also estimated that 45 percent of the
population in Third World countries are illiterate. Thus,
based on such figures and on the remarks by several of those
who evaluated the experience of Third World countries with
literacy for development, it is obvious that such experience
has to a large extent been unsuccessful (e.g., Graff, 1978:
Street, 1984; Wagner, 1986; Harman, 1987).

The fact that this experience was based on assumptions
about literacy that were supported by the autonomous model has
undoubtedly led many to question the merits of the assumptions
made by proponents of this approach. This is particularly
true of proponents of what I have called the "relativist
approach" who as earlier explained, have challenged and
reformulated many of the assumptions in the autonomous model.

Also, the emphasis in the relativist approach on relating the

meaning, value, and methods of promoting literacy to the

21
social, cultural, ideological, and political contexts is in
essence an obvious reaction to .this experience. This
experience has revealed the shortcomings of treating these
issues as being neutral and independent of the contexts in
which literacy exists. In sum, the experience of Third World
countries with literacy for modernization has undoubtedly
enriched the debate over the three issues discussed in this
section, and it continues to be one of the reasons why such

issues are dominant in much of the literature on literacy.

Literature Dealing with Religion and
Its Relationship to Literacy

The issue of religion and its relationship to literacy
was addressed by Goody and Watt (1957) and Goody (1968). In
both. works the authors presented. some arguments on. the
relationship between literacy and religion that seem to be
somewhat provocative.

In their discussion of the changes that literacy has
introduced into "literate cultures," Goody and Watt (1957)
pointed‘out that ”There is first of all the formal distinction
which alphabetic culture has emphasized between the divine,
the natural, and the human orders" (p. 339). This seems to
imply that religion, or the ”divine” has been assigned a
defined, clear-cut role to function into in "literate
cultures, " and that it does not, and probably should not,

interfere with the other ”natural" and ”human orders." It

22
also implies that literacy'has the power to limit the role and
scope of religion in.society, rather than the other way around
(i.e., that religion has the power to define the role and
scope of literacy.

Further, in the introduction to his 1968 volume, Goody
discussed some of the changes that usually accompany the
introduction of any of the "literate religions," particularly
Christianity and Islam, into a particular society. Among
these changes, Goody pointed out that literate religions may
become the commonbond among members of societies that embrace
them and may therefore weaken what he called "the strength of
primary kinship" (p. 2). Goody implied, however, that the
changes introduced by literate religions were less dramatic
than those introduced.by literacy and that literate religions
were by nature more conservative than literacy:

The literate religions with their special modes of
supernatural communication are less tolerant of
change. When this occurs, it tends to do so in
sudden shifts, through the rise of heresies or
monuments of reform, that often take the shape of
a return to the book--or its ‘true' interpretation
(1968, p. 2)
On the other hand, Goody’ distinguished. two features in
literate religions which he seemed to view as representing a
more progressive side of these religions, as well as being
the common ground between the types of changes that literate
religions and literacy may produce in human societies:
Thus literate religions tend to be more
‘salvationist,’ they' place greater emphasis on

individual paths to righteousness. Though this
difference is one of degree, it does link up with

23

the individualizing tendency of a literate
technology and an elaborate division of labor (1968,

pp. 2-3).

The remarks made by Goody and Watt seemed to raise three
fundamental questions. First, in their analysis of the
changes that can be introduced by literacy and religion, Goody
and Watt seemed to approach literacy and religion as being two
independent institutions. Given the close historical links
between literacy and literate religions, the question that
seems to be relevant is whether or not it is valid to view
literacy and religion as such. Secondly, Goody's analysis
seemed to indicate the debatable conclusion that literacy has
a greater impact on human cultures than literate religions do.
I am not sure if this view can be supported. It seems to
contradict an important historical case. This case is about
the dramatic changes in the areas of literacy and knowledge
which accompanied the introduction of Islam into the medieval
Arabian society. Historical sources indicate that the number
of people who mastered primitive literacy skills was extremely
meager in the pre-Islamic Arabian society (see Shalaby, 1954,
p. 16). The introduction of Islam into the Arabian society
resulted in a huge increase in the number of literate people,
which was chiefly due to the keen encouragement that literacy
and knowledge received from Islam (Shalaby, p. 16). Moreover,
Rosenthal (1970) observed in his discussion of the pre-Islamic
concept of knowledge in the Arabian society that such a

society had a very "primitive” concept of knowledge:

24

”knowledge there was a rather primitive groping after
elementary material data under quite restricted social
conditions. These data were not necessarily connected by some
kind of material or logical nexus" (p. 12). It was only
through Islam that such a primitive concept of knowledge was
replaced by a highly elevated view of knowledge and a high
regard for pursuing it. This case illustrates the point that
Goody's comparison of literacy and religion and the changes
that they may produce in human societies may be unfair to
religion. Thirdly, Goody discussed literate religions in a
broad sense and seemed to be concerned more with the
similarities among these religions. This raises the question
of whether or not one can view these religions as having the
same type of relationship with literacy.

Goody's analysis of the relationship between literate
religions and literacy seems to be different from the views
expressed on this relationship by other writers like Kenneth
Levine. Levine (1986) stressed the role that religion has
played as a guardian and as a controlling institution of
literacy.

whatever the circumstances governing the
introduction of literacy in a society, there is
invariably some agency or organization which
establishes a monopoly over its use. The examples
most common during the earliest eras were priestly
(clerical) groups responsible for protecting a
religious orthodoxy which had been or was being
enshrined in a holy book, or ruling elites and their
bureaucratic agents who tended to be jealous

guardians of an instrument of potential political
control, (p. 15).

25
Also, Levine made a distinction between "organizations"
that are interested in "restricting the dissemination of
reading and writing” and those that "define their mission in
terms of extending literacy” (p. 15). Based on this
distinction, Levine noted that some denominations in
Christianity have been more inclined towards disseminating

literacy than others:

Protestant denominations like the Lutherans, and
agencies such as the Bible Society have actively
proselytized for literacy because private study of
the Bible has been marked out as an important route
to salvation. The Catholic faith, in contrast, has
traditionally seen the priest as an indispensable
interpreter of holy writ for his flock, so that its
support for literacy has lacked a specific doctrinal
impetus, (p.15).

Further, Levine recalled a significant point made by
Wormald (1977, p.99) about how the adoption of a single
language as the official language of a religious faith might
restrict the dissemination of literacy. Paraphresing
Wormald's point, Levine stated:

. . . the Western church' a strong commitment to
Latin, in contrast to the Orthodox and Byzantine
branches which for the most part looked favorably
on the use of written vernaculars by converts,
severely retarded the spread of vernacular literacy.
The domination of almost all formal education by
Latin stifled.opportunities for those equipped.only
with vernaculars and helped to contain literacy
within the ranks of the clergy and aristocratic
elites (p.16).

This situation, Levine believed might be compared and

contrasted with a "parallel” situation in sub-Sahara Africa,

26
where Arabic has been associated with Islam as reported by
Goody, (1968, p.11)

Levine added that ”comparison of these different
religious systems suggests further' questions about ‘their
connections with the diffusion of literacy,” and he posed the
question of whether there might be ". . . a fundamental
contrast between the intellectual output from the static
tradition of textual preservation and scribal excellence
within the Christian monasteries, and the dynamism of
peripatetic, religious scholarship in Islam" (p.16).

Obviously, while Levine recognized the important role
that religion in general has played in the control and
dissemination of literacy, he did not ignore the differences
that exist among the various religious systems, and among the
various denominations within these religious systems in their
administration of literacy. Levine also recognized the
important role that other organizations like the political
systems can have in controlling literacy and the value that
these systems can assign to literacy. Levine's observation
about the dominant role that religious groups and "ruling
elites" had over the use and dissemination of literacy "in
earliest literate eras" suggests that some changes may have
occurred in the dominance of these systems and that we might
need to examine these changes.

The role of religion as a sponsoring agency of literacy

was discussed in further detail by Harvey Graff (1978). He

27
exposed the role that what he called "non-denominational
Protestantism" played in promoting and defining the mission
of literacy in some western nations, particularly in the
Anglo-American countries, in the nineteenth century.

In describing the role of religion as a promotional
factor of literacy in this period, Graff noted: "Religion,
and particularly Protestantism, was the driving force in those
few societies which achieved universal adult literacy before
the nineteenth century" (p. 3). In explaining the mission
that was assigned to literacy in this period, Graff affirmed
that ”of the panoply of reasons offered by school promoters
in this period, the inculcation of morals was supreme" (p. 3).
Wagner (1986) stated:

With few exceptions, much.of the last five thousand
years of literacy was in the hands of organized
religion. It was within the religious traditions of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the West and
Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism in the East
that a literate scholarship flourished. From the
great Islamic universities of Spain and North Africa
to the Buddhist monasteries of Thailand, scholars
and their students gathered to share the wisdom of
the great ages (p.321).

More attention appears to have been given to the
connections between literacy and' religion as they are
manifested in certain educational and social settings. That
is, besides studying the historical links between.literacy and
religion, there is another kind of research that seems to be

concerned with studying and documenting existing models,

educational and otherwise, of how religion is still closely

28
related to literacy. One example of this type of research is
the one conducted by Zinsser (1988) who reported her field
observations of two of what she called "fundamentalist Sunday
schools" (p. 56).

She found that ”the children in these ‘fundamentalist
schools‘ were becoming familiar with what Heath called
"literacy events” and that "they became familiar with rules
of a particular kind of pedagogical discourse which included
turn-taking, forms of questions and answers, and
contextualization cues" (p. 56). She added that:

in fundamentalist Sunday schools children are taught
specific skills for Bible literacy, they are taught
by a systematic form of classroom discourse, and the
sacred text differs markedly from secular text in
its significance for the reader, its establishment
2:)authority, and in sequencing of presentation (p.
Zinsser concluded from this study that ". . . even within the
dominant culture we might be more accurate in describing the
acquisition of literacy as being dependent on specific, local
contexts, rather than assuming a single literacy process for
young children" and that ”the study of literacy is as
complicated as the study of culture itself" (pp. 56, 70).

I believe that the connection between literacy and Islam
is in need of further exploration. Most of the literature
that is available on literacy seems to focus on literacy
within Western or industrialized contexts. In fact, this is
exactly the 'view that Eickleman (1978) stressed in this

discussion of Islamic education:

29

With the expansion of European hegemony over most
of the world in the last two centuries, non-western
institutions of higher learning have tended to
collapse or be eclipsed by their western-based
counterparts, so that comparative studies dealing
with non-European institutional forms have
necessarily been relegated to social historical
analysis (p. 487).

The situation described by Eickleman appears to be still
holding with respect to studying the connections between
literacy and Islam. These remarks, however, should not
obscure the fact that some tangible effort has been made in
this area. This effort can be seen in a number of studies
that mainly deal with literacy in an Islamic context.

An appropriate example of this kind of research is the
series of studies on literacy in Morocco conducted by Daniel
A. Wagner and others over the past decade. In one of these
studies, Wagner described some of the essential features of
literacy as practiced in Quranic schools in some parts of
Morocco, and "the emphasis on the oral memorization of the
Quran” in these schools (1986, p. 322).

In another study conducted by Ezzaki et. el (1987), the
writers examined the effects of Quranic preschooling and
language differences on the acquisition of literacy by
monolingual and bilingual Moroccan children. About the effect
of Quranic preschooling on literacy acquisition, the writers
reported:

With respect to Quranic preschool experience, the
results indicated a pattern similar to that of

language differences, with Quranic preschooled
children exhibiting performance levels generally

3O

superior to those of children. without Quranic
preschooling (p. 169).

Another example of studies dealing with literacy in an
Islamic context is reported by Street (1984). Based on his
personal experience and observation of an Iranian village,
Street provided in his work a detailed description of the
model of literacy that was dominant in that Iranian village
and how this model could be viewed in the overall context of
literacy study. The situation that Street described was that
of'a small Iranian village called Cheshneh, where the literate
people described had acquired literacy through their study of
religious texts in a form of religious schooling called
”Maktab." This ”Maktab literacy" as Street called it,
involved the teaching of "skills and content" (p. 140).
Students in. the ”Maktab,” as Street pointed. out, "were
learning attention to books and were being conditioned to
apply the information and attitudes learnt in that context to
daily life and non-literacy experience” (p. 156). This is
probably one reason why Street called the literacy skills
acquired by the students described as ”ideological" skills
(see p. 155). Finally, Street described how the students of
the "Maktab" utilized the literacy skills they learned for
other purposes: "the specific skills imparted by the ‘Maktab'
literacy were transferable to new literacies, developed for
new functions, as in the case of commercial literacy" (p.

153).

31

To summarize, in this chapter, I have argued first that
for various methodological, practical, and logical reasons,
investigation and research on literacy should be inclusive
and representative of all the existing ideological, cultural,
social and political contexts on literacy theory and practice.
Secondly, I have suggested that by exploring and describing
the views held on literacy by the group surveyed, this study
might contribute further to available research, particularly
to the discussion on the role of ideology in shaping people's
perceptions and attitudes towards literacy. Third, I
demonstrated that literacy, particularly its meaning, value,
and promotional methods has been the focus of considerable
investigation and debate. Three types of reasons for the
prominence of these issues in the related literature were
discussed: 1) reasons related to popular misconceptions; 2)
methodological reasons: and 3) historical reasons.

Fourth, I have outlined some of the relevant major
approaches and.views on literacy and related these approaches
and views to some of the significant developments,
particularly the emergence of newly independent countries.
In particular, I have emphasized the growing interest in
revising and reformulating existing assumptions after the
shortcomings of such assumptions became obvious. Finally, I
outlined some of the relevant views on the issue of religion

and its connections with literacy.

32

In relation to the theoretical and conceptual background
provided so far, and with the assumption that literacy is a
”dynamic" concept meaning different things in different
contexts, this study, as already noted, examines six issues
related to literacy from the perspective of a religious group.
Without imposing or suggesting any preconceived ideas on the
subject, I asked.the participants in.this study to state their
personal views on literacy meaning, origin, value and uses,
objectives, methods of promotion, and the rights of Muslim
women to literacy. The study was therefore primarily
descriptive. The data obtained.was however analyzed in light
of the theoretical framework described thus far.

As earlier indicated, this study has essentially been
conceived as a practical response for further research on
literacy in various contexts and among various groups. Its
overall objective was to contribute to the on-going
investigation of literacy by highlighting a context in which
literacy and religion interact, and which has not yet received
enough attention. By examining the views on literacy in this
context, it is hoped that the study has contributed to the
larger context of the interaction between literacy and
ideology. Finally, it is hoped that this study has added to

the body of literature on literacy in general.

CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

This chapter contains a description of the main questions
investigated in this study, the research plan and analyzing
process followed, and the stylistic conventions used

throughout the study.

1. Research Questions

The primary question investigated in this study was:
What did the members of the group surveyed think on the
following six issues which were all related to literacy: 1)
meaning; 2) origin; 3) value and uses; 4) objectives: 5)
appropriate methods for fostering and promoting literacy among
the members of this group and among Muslims in general; and
6) Muslim women's rights to literacy? Initially, the study
was aimed at investigating only the first five issues. These
five issues were chosen after a thorough examination of the
related literature which indicated that such issues were
highly influenced by the ideological, social, cultural, and
political contexts in which literacy exists (see Street, p.
8). Thus, my choice of these five issues was primarily

motivated by the assumption that the group surveyed was likely

33

34

to have distinctive views on these five issues as a result of
its distinctive religious beliefs and the other qualities that
its members possessed. The issue of Muslim women's right to
literacy was added later after my field testing of the
questionnaire. After reviewing the responses provided by the
ten people that I used for this purpose, I found out that the
participants were particularly interested in expressing their
views on this issue. As I point out later, the participants'
obvious interest in stating their views on this issue may have
been caused by a feeling on their part that there was a great
deal of misconception and misinformation about the status of
women in Muslim societies.

In addition to the primary question, there were four
other subsidiary questions: 1) What type of criteria did the
participants use as a basis for their views on the issues
raised in the primary question? 2) How did the degree of
adherence to Islamic teachings and practices effect the
subjects ' views on the issues examined? 3) How did the
environment, i.e., Bilal's Center, affect the subjects'
responses to the questions asked on the issues? 4) To what
extent were the views expressed by the participant members of
the group similar to, or different from, the views held on the
same issues by the dominant culture in which the group
existed?

The first two of these questions essentially emerged from

the primary question. Since the main purpose of the study was

35

to explore views on literacy within a religious context, I
felt that it was relevant to expect that some sort of
relationship between religious beliefs and the degree of
adherence to such beliefs, and literacy might emerge in the
study. The last two questions, i.e. questions number 3 and
4 mainly evolved from the qualitative methodology used in the
study. Investigating the influence of the environment on the
participants' views which was the main purpose of question
number 3 is one of the main tasks that qualitative researchers
commonly do as noted by Bogdan and Biklen (1982, p. 28).

Therefore, since this study was mostly conducted in the
field, through direct, face-to-face contact with the
participants in their natural environment, it was therefore
necessary to examine the influence of that environment on
their views and behavior. Similarly, the act of comparing
and contrasting the subjects of the study with other groups,
which was my purpose from asking question number 4 is a
typical qualitative practice (Bodgen and Biklen, 1982, p. 27).
It must be noted with regard to this question that the views
of the dominant culture which were compared and contrasted
with the participants' views were primarily derived from the
literature on literacy that has been published in the U.S.,
and to a lesser extent in other Western countries. With the
exception of question number 2 about the correlation between

the degree of adherence to religious teachings and literacy,

36
I think that the questions described so far have been

satisfactorily addressed in the study.

2. Research Plan

The research plan that was used for this study was
designed for the main purpose of objectively obtaining
authentic and unbiased data in. a natural setting. In
designing such a plan, I had also taken into consideration
the type and nature of the topic and the participants that I
explored. The study dealt with a topic that combined two
complex areas: literacy and religion. Literacy is
undoubtedly a highly ambiguous concept which is not easily
defined and measured as already explained. Consequently, I
simply found it difficult to design a research plan that would
rely on absolute quantitative measurements.

The area of religion raised similar difficulties. It
probably goes without saying that in dealing with any
religion, one has to take into account the fact that people
differ, sometimes sharply, in their perceptions and attitudes
towards religious teachings and.practices. One cannot simply
assume that the followers of a certain religious faith are
exact copies of each other. I also had to take into account
the fact that although the members of the group surveyed had
in common one religious faith, they represented different
geographical, linguistic, and academic backgrounds. All of

these variations led me to think of a research plan flexible

37
enough so that I could thoroughly capture the views of the
participants with all of their differences.

I decided to use a qualitative research methodology
because it seemed the most suitable approach for the kind of
issues and. participants that I studied. This type of
methodology has several characteristics which appeared
effective and applicable to the study. Following is a summary
of some of these characteristics taken from Bogdan and Biklen
(1982):

l) Qualitative research.has the natural setting as the

direct source of data and the researcher is the key
instrument (p. 27).

2) Qualitative research is descriptive. The data
collected is in the form of words or pictures rather
than numbers. The written results of the research
contain quotations from the data to illustrate and
substantiate the presentation (p. 28).

3) Qualitative researchers are concerned with process
rather than simply with outcomes or products (p.
28).

4) Qualitative researchers tend to analyze their data
inductively . . . the abstractions are built as the
particulars that have been gathered are grouped
together (p. 29).

5) Qualitative researchers are concerned with.what are
called participant perspectives (p. 29).

6) Qualitative researchers . . . objectively study the
subjective states of their subjects (p. 42).

7) The researcher's primary goal is to add to
knowledge, not to pass judgment on the setting (p.
42).

8) Qualitative researchers try to interact with their
subjects in a natural, unobtrusive, and non-
threatening manner (p. 43).

38

9) Data analysis is an ongoing part of the research
(p. 56).

10) Because of the detail sought, most studies have
small samples (p. 2).

The principal technique used for collecting data was a
questionnaire containing mostly open-ended questions on the
main issues of the study. The questionnaire was carefully V
designed for the main purpose of obtaining authentic data,
with special attention given to three design features that
are normally’ considered in. the design. of all kinds of
questionnaires: clarity, suitability, and thoroughness.

I planned to achieve clarity in the questionnaire through
a careful choice of unambiguous terms and through the use of
clear, standard language. The questions were likewise framed
solidly and with a degree of precision and explicitness that
made it easy for the participants to understand them. Enough
care was also taken in arranging the questions in such a way
that would allow for logical sequencing of the issues
contained in them.

In order to make sure that the questionnaire was
suitable, the issues were presented in the questionnaire using
familiar terminology and with an emphasis on the immediate
context of the study and the personal lives of the
participants. For instance, in question number 11, instead
of asking the participants to list the value and objectives
of literacy for all children, I asked them to list the value

and objectives that they themselves hoped to achieve by

39
providing literacy for their own children. I also used less
affronting expressions such as ”based on your understanding"
and ”what do you personally think." Offensive and
controversial questions such as inquiring about denominational
differences were particularly avoided in the questionnaire.
The questionnaire was thorough in the sense that it contained
questions on all the issues that were examined in the study.

The questionnaire contained twelve questions, eight of
which focused on the six major issues related to literacy.
The other four asked for information about the degree of
adherence to Islamic teachings by each participant, and the
degree to which he or she performed certain religious duties
such as the five daily prayers and the Friday prayer. These
four questions were included in order to account for the
differences among the participants in their attitudes toward
their religion and because I had expected that such
differences would have some influence on the type of responses
that they would give. Enough space was provided in the
questionnaire for the participants' responses, and they were
encouraged to use extra space if necessary. To maintain
objectivity, no leading questions were used.

The questionnaire was tested first on. my academic
advisor, who volunteered as an ideal participant and provided
oral responses which I naturally did not include in the study.
Later, I tested the questionnaire on a group of ten people

who were members of the group described in this study.

40

Because most of the members in the group were non-native
speakers of English, my major concern was that the
participants would find it difficult to understand the
questions. I was‘essured by the quality of the responses that
were provided by those ten people that the language was
understandable and that there was no need for any major
changes in the questionnaire. The ten people described here
were included as participants in this study. After this
process, I began to recruit more volunteers to respond to the
questionnaire. I distributed one hundred copies of the
questionnaire including the ten that were used for testing.
Of the one hundred copies distributed, forty were returned
which represent the actual number of participants used in the
study. A copy of the questionnaire is included in Appendix
A.

Besides the questionnaire, I also used the participant
observation technique which is one of the most popular
techniques in qualitative research (Bogdan and Biklen, 1982,
p. 2). Following Patton's description of qualitative research
design (1980, p. 43), I used this technique for the purpose
of gaining deeper, first-hand understanding of what the
subjects felt about the issues that I was exploring. I began
first by informing the people in Bilel Center about my
intention to conduct the study and gave the president of the
Center the letter from my advisor (Appendix A), which was

helpful in that regard. This step was followed by a series

41
of personal contacts and informal associations which were
primarily aimed at finding potential participants for the
study as well as exploring the feelings and opinions that I
expected the group would have on the issues examined.

Throughout the period of time which I spent in collecting
data, I tried my best to remain close to the environment and
the participants of the study (Bogdan and Biklen, 1982, p.
27). I spent a lot of time examining the periodicals and
publications that were available in the Center in order to
find relevant material on the issues examined. On several
occasions, I talked with the religious advisor in the center
who kindly provided me with some literature on the history and
activities of the center.

I attended many social gatherings and religious services
and listened to many religious speeches that on several
occasions dealt with such relevant issues as knowledge and
education of Muslim children. During all of these, I was
always on the lookout for any ideas or conversations that I
thought were useful to the study. For example, one evening
I was invited to dinner by one of the participants in his
home. On that occasion, I met several people from the Muslim
community, including the religious advisor in Bilel Center and
an American Muslim who had recently converted to Islam.

Luckily, the religious advisor asked me about the
progress of my study. His question provided me with an

opportunity to bring up the issue of literacy and invite the

42
guests to express their opinions on the subject, which they
were eager to do. Several issues were discussed in that
evening, many of which were related to literacy. The presence
of the American Muslim was a plus in that evening because it
encouraged the participants in the conversation to discuss the
issues from cross-cultural perspectives.

Among the topics that were discussed that evening were
issues like the need for promoting a clear understanding of
Islam among Americans and the methods by which this could be
achieved. One of the guests suggested that such a purpose
could ‘be achieved. by’ reaching out to .Americans and. by
distributing free literature on Islam among Americans.
Another suggested that Muslims should reach out to Americans
through media and public lectures. A.third suggested that
Americans could be better informed about Islam by being
invited into Islamic communities and mosques which.would.give
them an opportunity to see for themselves what Islam is all
about.

Some of the guests complained about what they felt as a
lack of motivation among many Americans to learn about other
cultures and other people. They particularly deplored what
they saw as deliberate misinformation and misrepresentation
of Islam in American media and the main role played by a
certain pressure group in this area. I was surprised to find
out from that conversation that some of those who took part

in the conservation were familiar with such books as The

43
Closing of The American Mind by David Bloom, and Cultural
Literacy by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. I also noticed an obvious
interest among those people in reading periodicals that deal
with global and Islamic issues. This was obvious from the

references to newspapers such as The New York Times and

 

magazines such as Time and Al-Mujtama'a that some of them made

 

during the conversation.

Whenever I had the opportunity to listen to a
conversation such as this one I always tried to be a passive
listener for most of the time. Moreover, at the end of
activities such as the one described here, I always spent
enough time to reflect on what was said and to sort out and
record relevant ideas. Such activities undoubtedly provided
me with further and deeper understanding of the study

population.

3. Analysis

The process of analyzing data was an on-going process
throughout this study. It began as soon as I entered the
field and began my involvement with the participants. During
the early stages, the process mainly focused on organizing and
examining every piece of information that I came across in the
prospect of including it in the study. I was also trying at
that stage to relate my personal observations to some of the
views that I had expected would emerge based on these

observations.

44

When I began to receive feedback from the participants,
which was mainly in the form of their responses to the
questionnaire, I began a process of sorting out the data for
the purpose of creating what Patton called "category systems"
(1980, p. 311). My initial step in that direction was to
analyze the content of the participants' responses. After
examining the content: of the jparticipant's responses, I
decided to categorize the responses according to the type of
issue that they dealt with. In other words, I used the six
issues examined in this study as broad categories, and I
divided the responses according to where they fit in these
categories. Under each of the six categories the responses
were then placed into sub-categories based on the kinds of
ideas and opinions contained in them. For example, under
”meaning of literacy,” I placed all of the responses that
emphasized coding skills in one sub-category under the heading
”coding/decoding skills” (Appendix B). Similarly, responses
that emphasized skills that were mental in nature as being
part of what literacy implies, were grouped under the heading
"mental/intellectual skills" (Appendix B). Following this
process of creating categories and. matching all of the
responses with the appropriate categories and sub-categories,
I then started to look for further quantitative and thematic
correlations among the responses. This was followed by a
process of synthesis by which I finally outlined the major and

most recurrent views that were expressed by the participants.

45
The next chapter contains further details on the analysis and
presentation of- the participants' views. These views
represent the main basis of the findings and implications
reported in the study.

Based on this description, I might then say that the
process of analyzing data was performed inductively in this
study, following Patton's description of inductive analysis
(p. 306). It basically began with examining and sorting out
a huge amount of data and pieces of information, and
culminated in the establishment of the participants' views
that are reported in ‘this study; The conclusions and
implications of the study are in turn mainly based on the

participants' views.

4. Stylistic Conventions

In order to protect the identity of the participants in
this study, I did not use real names. The name of the
institution where the study was conducted was changed
throughout the study for the same purpose. Quotation marks
(" ”) were used to indicate the exact words of the speakers.
Brackets [ ] were used to indicate any modifications that were
added to speakers' words. Slanted brackets / / were used to
enclose the English translation of utterances from other

languages.

CHAPTER III

THE STUDY

In this chapter, I present the views that I have found
among the members of the Muslim group surveyed on the issues
pertaining to literacy that have been examined in this study.
Prior to that, some background about the setting and
participants of the study is provided.

Setting

The place where this study was conducted can basically
be called a mosque, a place where Muslims worship God, or
"Allah" as they usually call Him. This place, which I have
chosen to call "Bilal's center" for anonymity was built in
1979, and it was located in an area that is very close to the
campus of a major midwestern university in the U.S.A. It
provided religious services for a Muslim community of about
six hundred people.

In Bilal's center, many members of the local Muslim
community usually gathered five times a day to perform the
five daily prayers in congregation. Those who could not come
to perform the prayers in congregation for any reason were
expected to perform them individually at home or at any other

place. On Friday however, all the members of the congregation

46

47

were expected and encouraged to show up, unless any one of
them happened to have special circumstances that prevented him
or her from coming. This is not to say however that anyone in
the center had the power or authority to penalize or even ask
any of the members about his or her absence from the Friday
prayer or any other prayer for that matter. In fact, it is one
of the basic doctrines in Islam that each individual is
totally free to determine the course of his/her religious
life.

Besides being a place for religious worship, Bilal's
center served as a home for various social, cultural,
political, and educational activities for the local Muslim
community; It was the place*where important Islamic events and
holidays were announced and observed by the community. It was
also the place where marriage contracts were arranged and
performed according to Islamic traditions. New births were
announced and celebrated in this center. Similarly, deaths
and funeral services in the community were announced and
performed in the center.

Further, Bilal's center was the place where newcomers to
the community were usually received and introduced to other
members. The center provided newcomers with initial forms of
help such as transportation, orientation, and arranging their
accommodation. Additionally, the center conducted and
sponsored other activities such as lectures, guest speakers,

and cross-cultural, and cross-religious discussions and

48
seminars. It had a sizeable library that contained hundreds
of books on many subjects including Islam that were available
for public use. The library contained a copy machine which
was available for public use. Finally, the center provided
the local Muslim community with such services as sponsoring
public dinners, bazaars, and with supplying some types of
ethnic food and commodities, especially what was called "halal
meat", meat from animals that were slaughtered according to
the Islamic way.
In sum, the place where this study was conducted then,

represented the center, or ”nucleus” of most of the daily

activities of the group that was surveyed in this study.

Participants

As explained in Chapter II, the forty participants in
this study were all members of the Muslim group described
earlier. Given the total number of the group, estimated to
be approximately six hundred peOple, and the qualitative data
used in the study, this number of participants was considered
reasonably significant (see Bogdan and Biklen, 1982, p. 2).
Thirty-seven of the participants were males. The obvious lack
of equity between the number of females and the number of
males in the study was due to the reasons provided in Chapter
IV.

Table 1 shows that most participants were relatively

young, ranging in age from twenty-one years to fifty—nine

49
years. In terms of linguistic background, Arabic speakers
were a majority of the sample--there were thirty. This was
due largely to the fact that Arabic speakers were already a
majority in the group. The educational level of most of the
participants was notably high. This high level of education
of the participants is discussed in Chapter IV as one of the
possible limitations in the study. The sample included three
individuals who were either native or naturalized United
States citizens.
Table 1

Participants' Personal Information

Serial Age. Sex. Native Language. Length of Educa-
No. stay in U.S. tional
level

Years Months

1 26 M Arabic 1 4 /

2 30 M Fulfulae/Hausa 3 Ph.d

3 7 M Arabic 2 Coll.grad.
4 32 F English 32 Ass.Degree
5 30 M Arabic 7 Ph.D

6 36 M Arabic 5 Ph.D

7 26 M Arabic 4 Ph.D

8 37 M Arabic 2 Ph.D

9 43 M Arabic 4 M.A.
10 25 M Arabic 7 Ph.D

ll 30 M Arabic 5 Ph.D

12 59 M Arabic 6 M.A.
13 30 M Spanish 3 M.A.
14 21 F Arabic 1 6 High school
15 40 M Arabic 5 Ph.D

16 27 M Arabic 1 6 Grad. Stud.
17 41 M Arabic 5 M.S.
18 26 M Arabic 2 6 Grad. Stud.
19 32 M Arabic 3 6 B . S .
20 39 M Arabic 8 Ph.D

50

Table l (cont.'d)

Serial Age. Sex. Native Language. Length of Educa-
No. stay in U.S. tional
level

Years Months

21 35 M Arabic 6 Ph.D

22 / M Arabic 4 M.A.
23 27 M Arabic 3 Grad. Stud.
24 21 M Bengali 2 Junior coll
25 / F Arabic 1 6 High school
26 26 M Arabic 7 B.S.
27 / M Arabic 17 Bachelor
28 36 M Arabic 8 Ph.D
29 24 M Malay 6 B.S.
30 42 M / 25 M.S.
31 24 M Arabic 6 B.Sc.
32 / M Arabic 2 M.S.
33 31 M Arabic 5 Ph.D
34 36 M Arabic 5 Ph.D
35 35 M Urdu 5 Ph.D
36 38 M Urdu 10 Ph.D
37 / M Arabic 4 Ph.D
38 34 M Arabic 10 M.S.
39 / / / / /
40 / / / / /

While all of the forty participants in this study can
generally be called practicing Muslims, there was some
variation in the patterns of their religious practices as can
be seen in Table 2. As to the degree of adherence to Islamic
teachings and practices, which I expected to be one of the
important variables among the participants, many of the
participants showed some reservations on self-evaluation for
this purpose. One participant even declined to provide
information on this category. For these reasons, I decided to

disregard this ‘variable as. a ‘basis for any significant

51
findings in this study, and instead view all the participants
as practicing Muslims. The comments that were made by some of

the participants on this issue are included in Appendix B.

Table 2

Participants' Religious
Practicing Data.

Serial Degree of Percentage Percentage Percentage
No. adherence of of of
to the performing performing performing
teachings the 5 daily the 5 daily the Friday
of Islam. prayers at prayers at prayer in
the mosque. home. congregation
at mosque.
l. 50% less than 25% 50% 100%
2. 75% less than 25% 100% 100%
3. 75% 50% 75% 50%
4. 75% less than 25% 100% 100%
5. 75% less than 25% 25% less than 25%
6. 50% less than 25% 100% 100%
7. 100% 75% 100% 100%
8. 75% 50% 100% 100%
9. 75% 75% less than 25% 100%
10. 100% 75% 25% 100%
11. 75% 25% 100% 50%
12. 75% 25% 100% 100%
13. 100% less than 25% 100% 100%
14. 75% 75% 25% 75%
15. 50% 100% - -
16 100% 50% 100% 100%
17. 75% 25% 100% -
18. 100% 75% 100% 100%
19. 50% 100% - 100%
20 50% 75% 100% 100%
21. 75% less than 25% 100% 100%
22. 75% less than 25% 100% 100%
23. 100% 50% 50% 100%
24. 100% 75% 100% 100%
25. 75% - 50% 100%
26. 100% less than 25% 75% less than 25%
27. 100% 50% 100% 100%
28. 50% 75% 100% 100%

52

Table 2 (cont.'d)

Serial Degree of Percentage Percentage Percentage
No. adherence of of of
to the performing performing performing
teachings the 5 daily the 5 daily the Friday
of Islam. prayers at prayers at prayer in
the mosque. home. congregation
at the
mosque.
29. 100% 25% 100% 100%
30. 100% 50% 100% 100%
31. 50% 50% 100% 100%
32. 50% 75% less than 25% 100%
33. 50% 25% 50% 75%
34. 50% 25% 100% 100%
35. 75% 75% - 100%
36. 50% 25% less than 25% 100%
37. 75% less than 25% less than 25% 75%
38. 75% less than 25% 100% 100%
39. 75% less than 25% 100% 100%
40. / 25% 100% 100%
Results

This section describes the participants' views on the

issues of literacy meaning, origin, value and uses,
objectives, methods of promotion, and Muslim women's rights
to literacy. The discussion focuses on the participants'
responses to the questionnaire used as the main basis for the
participants' views. Each of the six issues is discussed
separately. The discussion begins with an outline of the
major and most recurrent ideas and opinions on each of the
issues which appeared in the participants' responses. This
outline is presented in the form of concise statements

summarizing the ideas contained in the responses. Beside each

53

of these statements, I have indicated the frequency of the
statement and the percentage of participants who included such
a statement or any major portion of it in their responses.
For example, Statement 1 under the meaning of literacy has a
frequency of 30 and a percentage of 75%. Figure 30 in this
statement indicates the actual number of participants who
included the statement or any major portion of it in their
responses. The 75% figure refers to the percentage of those
thirty participants in relation to the total number of
participants, which was forty.

Although it is advisable for the reader to review all of
the participants' responses (Appendix B), these concise
statements were included. to jprovide the reader' with an
overview of the ideas and opinions contained in the
participants' responses. These statements are followed by a
narrative presentation of further data on the issue discussed,
including the use of examples and quotations from the
participants' responses which elaborate on the ideas outlined

in the statements.

1. Meaning of Literacy

Statement Statement Frequency Bib
Number centage
1. Literacy implies the ability and 30 75%

skills of coding, decoding, and com-
prehending written and spoken
language in various forms and
situations.

54

2. Literacy can affect the manner in 22 55%
which an individual interacts with,

and contributes to his/her local

community, society, culture,

religion and the world at large.

3. Literacy can have an important 31 77%
role in shaping one's mental,

intellectual, individual, social,

economic, academic, and religious

achievements and aspirations.

The participants' views on the meaning of literacy were
expressed in their responses to questions number 5, 6, and 7
in the questionnaire. Questions number 5 and 6 asked the
participants to list the qualities that in their opinions
described a literate versus an illiterate person. I
deliberately avoided asking the participants to define
literacy. I had expected that such a question would have been
confrontational and that most of the participants would have
been unwilling to risk defining literacy. I had also taken
into consideration the fact that the majority of the
participants were not familiar with much of the academic
discussion of literacy.

Most of the participants responded to questions number
5 and 6 by listing opposite qualities to describe a literate
versus an illiterate person. For example, most of those who
described a literate person as being knowledgeable, described
an illiterate person as being deficient in knowledge. The
participants provided seven types of qualities describing a

literate person. By implication such qualities taken together

55
represent the participants' overall view on the meaning of
literacy.

The first quality that the participants associated with
being literate was the mastering of coding-decoding, or
"transcription” skills. Thirty of the participants explicitly
recognized these skills in their responses. Bearing in mind
Tuman's remark that the transcription skill is "the most
visible component of literacy, " I had expected that all of the
participants would recognize this quality in their responses.
However, given the type of open-ended questionnaire used, it
is probable that those who did not recognize it may have
either forgotten, or did not actually think that it was a part
of being literate. A multiple choice questionnaire listing
the transcription skill as a part of being literate would
probably have produced a different number of the participants
who actually thought that it was a part of being literate.

Secondly, the participants emphasized a wide number of
mental/intellectual skills which they associated with being
literate. Among such skills, they emphasized reasoning,
analyzing, creativity, and systematicity. There was a special
emphasis in many of the responses on comprehension skills.
For example, two of the participants noted that a literate
person ”can comprehend what he/ she reads. " Another
participant wrote that a literate person ”can understand
educated and written language.” Some of the participants

linked this mental skill with religion. One participant wrote

56

that a literate person ”understands his/her religion, culture,
and history.” This obvious emphasis on comprehension as a
literate quality, is significant to note here because it
emphasizes the notion of content as well as skills as major
components of literacy. This view seems to confirm a point
made by Tuman (1987) that ”while literacy does entail reading
and writing, it cannot be defined simply in terms of
transcription and decoding skills" (p. 15).

Third, the participants linked literacy with a number of
communicative skills. Among these they emphasized some verbal
skills such as the ability to engage in discussions and the
ability to present one's ideas in an understandable manner.
Fourth, literacy according to the participants' view implies
a wide number of social and behavioral skills. In this
category, they especially emphasized the quality of being
concerned and involved in social, public, and global affairs
as a literate quality. Also emphasized were other qualities
such as obeying the laws and respecting others. Fifth, the
participants associated literacy with academic achievements
such as acquiring knowledge on various subjects, especially
in one's area of specialization. Sixth, the participants
indicated that literacy implied acquiring religious knowledge
and maintaining positive attitudes towards religion. Seventh,
they indicated that literacy implied possessing survival and
economic skills. One participant described an illiterate

person as having ”limited opportunities in life." Another

57
noted that an illiterate person is "the first to suffer
economic hardships."

In part A of question number 7, the participants were
asked to provide words that they thought would have equivalent
or approximate meanings to the word "literacy." Most of the
participants provided several words in their languages which
they thought would have close meanings to the word literacy.
However, there was an obvious lack of consensus among
participants who spoke the same languages on the word or words
that had equivalent meaning in their native languages to the
word literacy; For example, one of the participants who spoke
Urdu provided two words: "khawandah" and "parah." Another
Urdu-speaking participant gave two different words: "taleem"
and ”yafta" (Appendix B).

The same lack of consensus was obvious among the Arabic-
speaking participants. One Arabic-speaking gave the word
"thaqqafah" which he thought would have the closest meaning
to the word literacy. A second gave the different word of
”[A1] ta'addub.” A third gave the word "ta'aleem." A fourth
wrote that he could not think of an equivalent word.

Part B, of question number 7 asked the participants to
explain the differences in meaning between the word literacy
and the words that they provided from their native languages.
Several types of differences were noted. Two participants
indicated that the word for literacy in their native language

was synonymous with a high level of education. One other

58
participant noted that there were some differences in terms
of criteria and measurement between the word "literacy" and
its approximate equivalent in his native language. Four of
the participants, two of whom were Arabic speakers, one a
Bengali speaker, and one a Fufulae/Hausa speaker, noted that
the equivalent words in their languages refer to religious

knowledge and scholarship besides the skills of reading and

writing.

2. Origin of Literacy
Statement Statement Frequency Per-
Number centage
1. Literacy is a God-given ability 14 35%

to human beings. Qura'n and Islamic

literature in general, including the

documented sayings of prophet Muhammad

attest to the divine origin of

literacy.

The participants' views on this issue were expressed in
their responses to question number 9, A and B, which asked
them to state their understanding of the Islamic view on this
issue and to indicate their acceptance or rejection of it.
All of the participants indicated their total acceptance of
the Islamic view.

All of the participants who dealt with this issue in
their responses indicated their belief in the divine origin

of literacy. One participant wrote that "In Islam, Allah

59
\God\ is the beginning and end of everything. " Another wrote:
"According to my knowledge of Islam, the origin of literacy
goes back to the time when Allah \God\, the lord of the whole
universe, taught Adam names for everything. " Obviously,
historical explanations that approach literacy as an

accidental happening or discovery may not be relevant to this

group.

3. Value and Uses of Literacy
Statement Statement Frequency Per-
Number centage
1. While Islam is a logical religion 24 60%

that can be understood even by an
illiterate person, literacy is
highly regarded in Islam and it
is viewed as an essential skill
for being a good enlightened
Muslim individual.

2. By being literate, a Muslim indivi- 29 72.5%
dual is in better position to fully
understand Islam, be conscious of
God and observant of Islamic teachings,
read Qura'n and Islamic literature,
spread Islam, obtain useful knowledge,
earn living, and protect oneself from
being exploited by others.

The participants expressed their views on this issue in
their responses to questions number 8 and 9, A and B.
Question number 8 asked the participants whether "literacy

can contribute to, or interfere with being a good Muslim"

(Appendisz). It also asked.the participants to explain.their

60

answers either way. Thirty seven of the participants thought
that literacy contributes to being a good Muslim. The other
three participants provided qualified responses. One wrote:
"Literacy [does not] weaken the behavior of a good Muslim,"
implying that it was neutral with respect to being a good
Muslim. The second noted that literacy "does not effect
[being] a good.Muslim, but it is a good tool to understand and
carry Islam to other people." The third wrote: "Literacy is
an important thing for a Muslim, but not necessarily to be a
good Muslim."

In part A of question number 9, the participants were
asked to state what they considered as the Islamic view on
the value and uses of literacy. In part B, they were asked
to indicate their acceptance or rejection of this view. All
participants indicated their acceptance. The participants'
views on this issue were based on six main criteria, which
were obvious in their responses. First, the participants
provided some views that were based on personal/judgmental
criteria. In this category, the participants‘ responses
reflected what they personally thought, without references to
religious doctrines. For example, one participant wrote: ”A
literate Muslim is far much better than an illiterate one."
Another stated that ”literacy is a valuable skill for any
human being.”

Secondly, the participants used educational criteria to

stress the value of literacy for obtaining knowledge and as

61

a means for accessing education. A participant wrote:
“Literacy makes a person become a better Muslim by gaining
more knowledge to cope with various problems. " Another wrote:
"Literacy is valuable for obtaining knowledge." The
participants' emphasis on the educational value of literacy
seems to confirm Robinson's remark that "Literacy gives access
to genuine education" (1983, p. 10). Third, the conununicative
criteria. was evident in. responses such as ”Literacy .is
important for reading printed material and for interpersonal
communication.” Fourth, the participants used economic and
functional criteria in their assessment of the value and uses
of literacy. "A Muslim should be literate and educated in
order to be productive and successful," a participant wrote.

Fifth, several responses described the value and.uses of
literacy using political criteria. Two of the participants
stressed the value of literacy as a means by which Muslims
could maintain their independence and avoid being "enslaved
by others." Sixth, the participants strongly emphasized the
religious, missionary, and pragmatic criteria in their views
on the value and uses of literacy. These criteria dominated
in most of the responses that the participants provided on
this issue. The religious part of these criteria covers views
in which the value of literacy was judged with reference to
explicit religious doctrines or texts, such as Qura'nic verses

and sayings by the prophet Muhammad.

62
Many of the views that fit into this criteria treated

the acquisition of literacy as a religious duty for which a
Muslim individual expects rewards in this life as well as in
the‘hereafteru One participant wrote: "literacy is essential
for success in this life and in the hereafter." Also, two of
the participants responded by saying that "Becoming literate
is a religious duty for a Muslim." Two others noted that
”Literacy is important for a Muslim in order to worship our
Creator, Allah/God/who says:

‘I have only created

Jinns and men, that

they may serve me.'" (Quran, Ch. 51:55)

The missionary criteria was evident in responses in which

the participants emphasized the value of literacy for
spreading the message of Islam. An appropriate example in
which this type of criteria was used is in the following
statement which seven of the participants included in their
responses: "Literacy is important for a Muslim to spread
Islam and Islamic values and ideology which is a noble mission
for every Muslim." The pragmatic criteria was evident in
responses that emphasized the value of literacy for the
general benefit of Muslims. The following statements
illustrate this type of criteria: 1) ”Literacy is very
important for the advancement of the Muslim nation."
2) ”[Literacy is important for Muslims] to safeguard our
culture and religion, and to get our viewpoints across without

having our religion misunderstood."

63

4. Objectives of Literacy

A. The Ultimate Objectives of Literacy

Statement Statement Frequency Per-
Number centage
1. The ultimate objective of literacy 23 57.5%

is to achieve the purpose of our

being in this world, which according

to Islamic teachings is to know God,
obey His commands, conduct our lives

in accordance with His teachings, and
worship Him in the best possible

manner so that we can be rewarded by

a better, lasting life in the hereafter.

2. The ultimate objective of literacy 22 55%
is to understand Islam, learn and
master useful sciences, spread
Islam, and compete for world's
leadership in all fields.

B. Objectives Behind Providing Literacy
for One's Children

3. Literacy is essential for a Muslim 33 82.5%
child in order to understand,
practice, and spread Islam, and in
order to worship God in the right
way for the purpose of being rewarded
in the hereafter. Providing literacy
for the Muslim child by his/her
parent(s) for these purposes is a
religious obligation for which the
Muslim parent(s) hope to be rewarded
by God in the hereafter.

4. Literacy is essential for a Muslim 26 65%
child in order to get a job, become
successful and productive in his/her
professional life, obtain knowledge
and be useful to his/her fellow
Muslims, society and humanity in
general.

64

The participants were asked to explain their views on
the objectives of literacy in questions number 9, A and B and
question number 11. In part A of question number 9, the
participants were asked to explain what they considered as
the Islamic view'on.the ultimate objectives of literacy; Part
B asked them to indicate their acceptance or rejection of this
view. All the participants indicated their acceptance of this
view. All of the responses that were provided to this
question emphasized objectives for literacy that were based
on religious doctrines, as the following examples show:

1. "The ultimate objective of literacy is to
promote [the] will of Allah/God/ on earth, and
establish an Islamic society which is not
governed by kings and dictators who do not feel
accountable to anyone. Promoting the will of
Allah /God/ will automatically bring peace and
harmony among the citizens of the world."

2. ”The ultimate objective of literacy is to know God:
Those truly fear God
Among His servants,
Who have knowledge" (Qur'an, Ch. 35:28).

3. "The ultimate objective of literacy lies in
the Qur'anic verses:
a) Proclaim (or read) in

the name of thy Lord

and Cherisher, Who

created--created man,

out of (A mere) clot

of blood (Qur'an, Ch.

96: 1-2)
The objective is to build a literate, knowledgeable
nation which will liberate human beings from all kinds
of slavery in the universe and direct their hearts and
deeds to God only. Literacy should also be used as a
means for obeying and pleasing Allah/God."

65

Although these views were based on explicit religious
texts, it may be notable that the respondents were also
expressing their personal attitudes towards the content of
these texts.

Question number 11 asked the participants about the
importance of literacy for their children and the objectives
that they wanted their children to achieve through literacy.
It also asked the participants to explain the objectives that
they themselves were planning to achieve by providing
literacy for their children. Three types of objectives
recurred in the participants' responses. The first type
included functional and survival objectives such as helping
the children to earn their living "respectably," and become
productive and useful in their societies. The second type
included general and cultural objectives such as helping
children to understand the importance of their birth rights
and be aware of global issues. The third type which.was also
dominant in the participants' responses included religious
and moral objectives. Most of the responses in this category
emphasized objectives such.as helping the children to vauire
Islamic knowledge in order to practice it as well as helping
them understand Islam so that they could pass it on to the
future generations. It was also evident in many of the
responses that the participants considered.providing literacy

for their children as a religious duty which they had to

66

perform so that they could. be rewarded for it

in the

centage

hereafter.

5. Methods of Promoting Literacy
Statement Statement Frequency
Per-
Number
1. Literacy can be promoted among 21

Muslims by devoting more financial

and human resources for this purpose,
by making school attendance compulsory
for school age children, expanding

and increasing the number and

size of educational facilities, by
cooperating with other advanced nations,
by improving and upgrading the
academic and social levels of teachers
and the quality of teaching techniques,
by utilizing mass media, and by
educating the public about the
importance of literacy.

Promoting literacy among Muslims 20
requires creating a political atmos-
phere in Muslim countries that is
conducive to learning and the
pursuit of literacy and knowledge,
utilizing mosques and allowing
religious scholars the freedom to
teach and educate the public,

giving priority to Islamic
education, and revising and
designing present educational
policies and curricula so that they
conform to Islamic teachings

and values.

50%

Question number 12 in the questionnaire asked the

participants to express their opinions on the current levels

of literacy among Muslims and to explain the methods that

they thought were appropriate for promoting literacy in

67
Muslim societies. Thirty seven of the participants
considered the current levels of literacy among Muslims
unsatisfactory; One participant considered them
satisfactory. Two participants had no opinions on this
issue. Six types of methods for promoting literacy in Muslim
societies were suggested by the participants.

The first type emphasized financial and quantitative
methods such as spending more money on education and
increasing the number of educational institutions. The
second type included legal methods and policies such as
enacting and enforcing compulsory education laws. The third
type included technical methods such as utilizing the media
and improving the educational process. The fourth included
promotional and educational methods such as increasing the
public awareness about the value of literacy and education.
The fifth included political methods such as changing the
present political systems and regimes in the Muslim world and
providing Muslims with.more political and individual freedom.

The sixth type included religious and qualitative
methods. This type was again the most dominant in the
responses. There was a clear emphasis in the responses that
suggested this kind of methods on the need for what might be
called an Islamization of the educational systems as a method
for promoting literacy. Among the changes that the

participants proposed in this regard were the following:

68
1) revising and designing educational curricula so
that they conform to Islamic teachings;
2) emphasizing religious education;
3) utilizing mosques for teaching literacy;
4) teaching the Qura'n to children.
The participants' obvious emphasis on the Islamization of the
educational systems clearly indicated their dissatisfaction
with the secular educational systems that existed in Muslim
societies. The participant who thought that the current
levels of literacy among Muslims were satisfactory added that
illiteracy "is not the problem that prevents us from being a
united Ummah (nation). " He meant that Muslims had more
important priorities that they should handle before worrying

about illiteracy rates.

6. Muslim.Women's Rights to Literacy

Statement Statement Frequency

Per-

Number centage
1) In Islam, men and women have the 39 97.5%

same equal rights to literacy.
This is supported by explicit and
authentic Islamic documents and by
the Qura'n and the sayings and
deeds of prophet Muhammad.

The participants' views on this issue were expressed in
their responses to question number 10, A and B. A asked them

to indicate whether Islam gave women an equal or lesser right

69
to acquire literacy than it gave men. Thirty nine of the
participants thought that Islam gave women an equal right to
that of men. One participant thought that Islam gave women
a lesser right to literacy than it gave men.

In response to part B, which asked the participants to
indicate their acceptance or rejection of the Islamic view on
this issue, all of the participants indicated their total
acceptance of this view. Eleven of the participants provided
comments with their responses in which they stressed the
equality of men and women in Islam with regard to their
rights to literacy and education. In these comments, the
participants quoted sayings by the prophet Muhammad to
support their views, which indicated the degree of
seriousness that they felt on this issue, and their awareness
of some misconceptions and stereotyping of the role of women
in Muslim societies. All of these comments are included in
Appendix B. One participant noted that "when in Islam it is
stated: 'Seek knowledge even if it be in China,‘ no
distinction was made between men and women." Another wrote:
”As Muslims, we do not make any distinction among people,
regardless of whether [they are men or women], people differ
from each other in terms of being a good Muslim, and Allah

/God/ knows that.”

70
Discussion

This section reviews the research questions of the study
in light of the results presented so far. Regarding the main
research question of the study, which was about the views
held by the group on the six issues of literacy, it is hoped
that the previous discussion has provided a reasonable
answer.

The first subsidiary question in the study was about the
type of criteria that would be used by the participants as a
basis for their views on the six issues examined. The
results discussed in this chapter clearly indicate that the
participants used the religious criteria more than any other
criteria as a basis for their ‘views. The number and
frequency of responses which were based on religious
doctrines, and the wide number of quotations from religious
texts and scriptures which the participants frequently used
to support and validate their views indicate that religion
was the primary criterion used by the participants. To a
lesser degree, the participants also used.other criteria such
as functional, educational, and economic criteria,
particularly in their views on the value of literacy as
previously explained.

The second research question investigated the
relationship between the degree of adherence to the religion
and the type of views that the participants were expected to

give. This question was initially included in order to

71

account for the individual differences among the participants
with regard to their attitudes toward the religious teachings
and the degree to which such differences might have been
recognizable in the participants' views. However, due to the
difficulty that was encountered in. recognizing any
significant differences among the participants in this area,
this variable was disregarded as a basis for any conclusions.
Instead, the participants were viewed as practicing Muslims
since all of them were obviously engaged in the religious
activities of the group examined, and because several
participants objected to self-evaluation of the degree of
their adherence to religious teachings and practices (see
Appendix B).

The third research question was about the possible
influence of the environment in.which the study was conducted
on the participants' views. In asking this question, I had
taken into consideration the point made by Bogdan and Biklen
(1982) that "qualitative researchers assume that human
behavior is significantly influenced by the setting in which
it occurs" (p. 28). Given the fact that this study focused
more on belief than behavior, this assumption may be less
relevant to this study then it would have been to a study
dealing with human behavior.

Nonetheless, the data in this study suggest several
aspects in the participants' responses which may have been

linked to the setting. One of these aspects is the sense of

72

plurality or belonging to the group, which was reflected in
the responses of several participants. For example, many of
the individual participants frequently used the pronoun "we"
instead of "I," as in the statement: "We, as Muslim women,
must be knowledgeable in all aspects of life" rather than "I,
as a Muslim women. . . ." A similar example is the statement
"As Muslims, we do not make any distinction among people"
(Appendix B).

A second aspect of the setting influence on the
participants may be evident from the frequent references in
the participants' responses to religious teachings and texts
and from the references made in the responses to mosques, and
to the possibility of using them as places for teaching
literacy skills (see Appendix B).

The participants' sense of being surrounded by a
dominant culture that was in some respects different from
their subculture which relates to my fourth subsidiary
research question was also evident in some of the
participants' responses. For example, a reference was made in
one of the participants' responses to the need for adapting
to both Islamic/Arabic and American cultures. Other
participants pointed to the difficulty in satisfying their
religious requirements while interacting with the surrounding
environment. Examples such as these and many others like them
in the participants' responses do seem to signal the

participants awareness of and interrelatedness to the

73
dominant culture. These examples also indicated the
participants' awareness of being different in some respects

from the dominant culture in which they lived.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

This chapter will be devoted to summarizing and interpreting
the findings of the study and their implications for literacy
and education. I will also point out the ideas that the study
seems to suggest for further investigation and research.

Given the number and scope of the issues examined as well
as the qualitative methodology used in this study, the results
given in the previous chapter may suggest numerous conclusions.
However, based on my evaluation of the results and after a
lengthy process of analyzing the content of the participants'
responses, I think there are two major conclusions that evolve
from the results of this study.

First, in terms of content and ideological orientation, the
views expressed by the members of the group on literacy and the
issues related to it are holistic and religion-based. What I
mean by holistic here is that the participants seem to view
literacy as an integral part of the whole scheme of life, not
as an isolated or static concept. This is clear from the wide
variety of uses and benefits that the participants associate
with literacy in their responses. In other words, the
participants do not limit the value and benefits of literacy to

the much publicized economic and social benefits of literacy as

74

75
it is the case with older models of literacy. Besides, the
participants do not seem to put much emphasis on separating the
worldly uses, benefits, and objectives of literacy from the
religious ones.

Literacy as defined by this group is essentially a divine
gift. Its value, uses, and objectives are related to the very
purpose of human beings' existence on this earth, which
according to the group's faith is to know and worship God. In
order to perform this mission successfully, literacy according
to this view, has to be used for the benefit of human beings
here and hereafter, and in accordance with the teachings of God.
This view implies that literacy programs, for this group at
least, should not be designed to achieve only limited or worldly
objectives such as economic and social development. Literacy
programs according to this view must be comprehensive in their
content as well as in the objectives that they aspire to
achieve. Literacy is viewed by this group as a combination of
uses and objectives that are supposed to lead to a meaningful,
disciplined life on this earth and a rewarding, lasting life in
the hereafter. This implies that the benefits and rewards that
an individual can obtain from literacy may not end with his or
her death, but may still continue after death, so long as he or
she uses his or her literacy resources in.eccordance with divine
teachings. In sum, this view regards literacy as a process and

a medium of action and communication that combines man and the

76

universe, man and man, and man and God. In this sense, I
believe this view may be described as being holistic.

Obviously, the members of this group do seem to subscribe
to’many'of the assumptions and views on literacy that are widely
known and debated in.many societies and cultures, including the
dominant culture in which they live. Seventy-five percent of
the participants explicitly emphasized mastering the skills of
coding/decoding or ”transcription" as Tuman calls them, as being
central to their definition of what it means to be literate.
Apparently, this dimension of literacy is one of the most widely
recognized parts of literacy, and a part that is emphasized in
almost any work that deals with literacy definition (see Tuman,
p. 3, and Levine, p. 12). The participants also emphasized many
of the individual, social, economic, and political implications
and uses that are commonly associated with literacy in many
societies and cultures, including the dominant culture in.which
their group lives (see, for example, Scribner, pp. 73-81).

Nevertheless, the results of this study seem to indicate
that religion, specifically Islam, is the basis for most of what
the participants had to say on literacy and the other issues
related to it that have been examined in this study. As it was
mentioned in the previous chapter, all of the participants in
this study expressed their total acceptance of Islamic views on
all of the issues that were raised in the questionnaire. Also,
the participants' obvious concern to make sure that their views

conform to Islamic teachings, the numerous quotations from the

77
Qura'n and sayings of the prophet Muhammad that many of the
participants used to support and validate their views, and the
consensus among the participants on some key issues such as the
divine origin of literacy, all indicate that Islam is not merely
a passive factor in the participants' vision on literacy, but
rather has a central shaping role in this vision.

Herman (1987) argues that promoting literacy in a particular
society or group requires what he calls "cultural supports” (p.
24). This implies that unless people in a particular society
or group are encouraged to value literacy by their domestic
culture, it would be difficult to promote literacy among these
people. In relation to this, the second conclusion that seems
to flow from the results of this study is that Islam represents
the primary motivational and cultural support for literacy in
the group surveyed. This conclusion is mainly based on two
concepts that are reflected in the participants' responses:

First, the concept of pursuing and acquiring literacy
because it is a prescribed religious duty is heavily emphasized
in the participants' responses. This is partially clear in
statements number 1 and 2 (pp. 59) in which respectively 60%
and 72.5% of the participants emphasize their belief in
acquiring literacy as a religious duty. The concept is also
emphasized in many of the individual responses. For example,
the following statement appeared in responses given by two
participants: "Becoming literate is a religious obligation for

a Muslim” (Appendix B). Also, seven of the participants

78

included the following statement which expresses the same
notion: "Literacy is mandatory for a Muslim men or women
because the Prophet said: Seeking ilm/knowledge/ is mandatory
for every'Muslim, man or woman, and [said]: seek knowledge from
cradle to grave" (Appendix B). Another participant responded
by saying that "the first verse in the glorious Quran commands
a human being to read, to learn, and to know his Creator and all
creatures around him” (Appendix B). These examples indicate
that the members of the group surveyed are already convinced of
the value of literacy by their faith.

Secondly, the concept of long-term religious reward is
another form of support that Islam seems to provide for literacy
in the group surveyed. As already indicated, one of the basic
ideas in the group's view on literacy is that the benefits and
rewards of literacy are not limited to this world. This belief
in the everlasting rewards of literacy is clearly voiced in the
participants! responses and it seems to be quite relevant to the
participants' views and attitudes towards literacy; A suitable
example can be seen in the following response by one of the
participants: ”By allowing my children the chance to become
literate, I hope to get the rewards in the hereafter as promised
by Allah/God/” (Appendix B).

Further the participants mention in their responses many
uses, benefits, and goals for literacy that are mainly spiritual
and are performed for the purpose of getting reward in the

religious sense. To exemplify, the participants stressed the

79
value and usefulness of literacy for such purposes as reading
the Quran, getting closer to God, reading Islamic literature,
advancing the Muslim nation, spreading Islam, and many more (see
Appendix B). *All of this seems to indicate that the concept of
eternal reward is already established in the group's religious
beliefs and that it contributes positively to their attitudes
and motivation towards literacy.

Thus, given.the concept of acquiring literacy as a religious
duty and 'the concept. of everlasting’ reward for ‘utilizing
literacy Islamically, and the participants' obvious awareness
and adherence to these two concepts, it seems reasonable to
conclude that the people surveyed rely on their faith as a
primary motivational and cultural support for their views and
practices of literacy.

Given the obvious influence of religious beliefs on the
participants' views as described so far, the findings of this
study seem to strongly support Street's ideological model of
literacy. The results of the study clearly indicate that
religion, which is one form of ideology, does play an important
role in shaping the meaning of literacy among its fOllowers
(Street, 1984).' The results also support the view expressed by
both Street (1984) and Herman (1987) that literacy is not an
”autonomous" concept or a ”technical ability," and that it is
related or ”embedded" in the ideological, cultural, and social
institutions in various societies and groups. Finally, the

results of the study seem to agree with Cairns's point that

80
literacy in Third World countries at least should be "endogenous
in content and methodology at the primary levels for children"
(p. 25). This point is particularly valid in Muslim countries
and among Muslim groups where as this study suggests, children

come into contact with literacy through religious channels.

Limitations of the Study

There are at least four possible limitations in this study
that should be considered in future studies of this type.
First, the study exclusively describes views on literacy
expressed by a group of highly educated Muslims who live in a
society that in many ways is markedly different from most of
the Muslim societies. The views expressed by this group may
have therefore been to some extent influenced by these two
factors. It is possible that the views described in this study
may not be generalizable to Muslims who are illiterate or less
educated, and to Muslims who have not had the opportunity to
live and interact with cultural and religious environments that
are different from their own. This issue should be addressed
by further research on literacy .in predominantly Muslim
societies.

The second possible limitation in the study is the
possibility of subjective interference by some of the
participants in the data they provided. As earlier indicated,
I tried to assure that I obtained the genuine views of the

participants on the issues examined in this study. However,

81

despite all the efforts to reduce subjective interference, it
might be possible that a few among the participants may have
desired to please the researcher and overpolish their views.
It: might be possible that some of the participants were
motivated by a general desire to represent their religion in
the most positive light. To assess this possible limitation,
further research needs to be conducted.with populations who are
less aware of the public impact of their responses, or with
groups who are less internationally educated.

Third, obviously the majority of participants in the study
were males, which might suggest that female views on the issues
discussed were not proportionately represented in the study.
I should point out that every attempt was made to find an equal
number of female participants. However, because of the
demographic structure of the group surveyed, which consisted
mostly’ of single male students, the number of women. was
naturally small. The linguistic barrier and some cultural
customs such as excessive emphasis on decency were negative
factors against the possibility of finding enough female
participants. A limitation such as this one can be dealt with
in similar studies that may be conducted in larger Muslim
groups, or can be resolved by having female researchers.

Fourth, considering the amount of time that many people
would normally spend in responding to a questionnaire, the
questionnaire used in this study may be somewhat lengthy. Thus,

because of the length of the questionnaire and the size of the

82
time investment of each subject, the results might have been
affected by fatigue or the pressure of time. Future studies
might consider using shorter procedures to control for this

possible effect.

Implications and Ideas
For Further Research

This section outlines the pedagogical implications of the
study as well as the ideas that the study seems to suggest for
future research in literacy.

In the area of pedagogy and public education, the study
suggests three implications. First, given the recent history
of the group described, the study suggests that.people in.charge
of enacting public educational policies may need to become more
aware of the existence of groups such as this one. This may be
necessary, particularly in a multi-religious society like the
U.S., where there is usually a need for creating a fair
educational system that takes into consideration the beliefs and
values of all existing groups.

In practical terms, the study suggests that public
educational systems in pluralistic societies, in particular,
may need to be flexible enough, so that religious groups like
the one described are given the opportunity to benefit from them
while maintaining their religious beliefs. There are two
possible ways of achieving this. First, by creating a public

educational system, which is based on, and acceptable to, all

83
the religious, ethnic, and cultural groups in a pluralistic
society. A second possibility is by allowing these various
groups the freedom to take care of their educational needs. In
either case, social harmony and national interests may need to
be considered first.

Secondly, the special views on literacy in the group
described suggest that teachers in public schools may need to
become more informed about the religious beliefs of their
students, particularly those relating to literacy and education.
This may be needed in order to promote mutual understanding and
communication between teachers and students, which may in turn
positively affect the teaching/learning processes.

Teachers can become better informed about their students'
religious beliefs through several channels such as reading
authentic literature on their students' religions and
participating in courses and seminars designed for this purpose.

Third, the obvious positive influence of religion on the
perceptions and attitudes towards literacy in this group
suggests that schools and other educational institutions may
wish to consider cooperating with religious institutions for
the purpose of promoting literacy. Although it is usually
assumed ‘that providing literacy' is jprimarily the school's
responsibility, the study indicates that religious institutions-
-especially those heavily represented in a given student body-

-may contribute positively, particularly in the area of

84
motivating students to acquire literacy, which is usually of
prime importance for school administrators.

In the area of literacy, this study suggests that the
relationship ‘between. religion. and literacy' may still need
further investigation. This is an area that seems to have been
investigated mostly from a historical perspective with much less
emphasis‘on.its present significance (see Eickleman, 1978). The
concern with exploring the economic, social, and political
connections of literacy which has characterized most of the
studies in the field.may have been.one of the strong factors for
the lack of attention to this area. However, as the study
suggests this is an area that seems to be of prime importance
for a deeper understanding of literacy.

The study indicates that further research is needed to
explore the possibility of making a better use of institutions
such as religion in literacy programs and campaigns in various
parts of the world. It is obvious from the study that religion

can be a potentially useful factor in this area.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A
QUESTIONNAIRE

CORRESPONDENCE

85

Appendix A

Questionnaire

Dear Participant,

This questionnaire is intended to collect data about
how Muslims living in America view literacy, its value, its
purposes, and the methods that can be used to foster it
among Muslims. It takes about twenty to thirty minutes to
answer this questionnaire. Your responses will be used for
purely academic purposes and your identity will be kept
anonymous in any report on research findings. Please note
that ”You indicate your voluntary agreement to participate
by completing and returning this questionnaire", to:

Juma S. Njadat
1645 - L Spartan Village,
East Lansing, MI 48823.

Phone: (517) 353—7933.

Participant's signature

Date

86
Personal Information

Name: (optional)

Age:
Sex: Male (M) Female (F)
Marital Status: Married ( ) Single ( ) Divorced ( )

Number of children:

Occupation:

Educational level:

Area of academic specialization:

Native language:

U.S. citizen: Yes (Y) No (N)

How long have you lived in the U.S.?
Do you plan to return to your homeland?

Yes (Y) .NO (N)

87

Note: Before you start to write down your answers, please

take a look at all of the questions listed in this

questionnaire. If you need additional space to answer any of

the questions, please use the reverse side of each page or

attach additional pages.

Circle the one figure below that you think best
represents the degree of your adherence to the
teachings of Islam in your daily life, as well as in
your dealings with others:

a. 100% b. 75% . c. 50% d. 25%

e. less than 25% f. none

You may elaborate on your answer in the space below.

 

 

 

 

 

How often do you perform the five daily prayers in
congregation at the mosque?

a. 100% of the time b. 75% of the time

c. 50% of the time d. 25% of the time

e. less than 25% of the time

f. zero percent of the time.

88

If you do not or cannot perform the five daily prayers
in congregation at the mosque, how often do you perform
them individually at home or at any other place?

a. 100% of the time b. 75% of the time

c. 50% of the time d. 25% of the time

e. less than 25% of the time

f. zero percent of the time.

How often do you perform the Friday prayer in
congregation at the mosque?

a. 100% of the time b. 75% of the time
c. 50% of the time d. 25% of the time
e. less than 25% of the time

f. zero percent of the time

List below some, or all of the qualities that you think

describe a literate person:

 

 

 

 

 

89
List below some, or all of the qualities that you think

describe an illiterate person:

 

 

 

 

 

a. If English is not your native language, which word
or words in your native language do you think has
an equivalent, or an approximately equivalent
meaning to the meaning of the word "literacy” in
English. Please use English alphabetical letters
for transcribing the word(s) of your native

language.

 

 

 

90
b. If you think that there are some differences
between the meaning of the word "literacy" as it
is used in English, and what the equivalent word
in your native language refers to, please explain

these differences below:

 

 

 

 

 

How do you think literacy can contribute to, or
interfere with being a good Muslim? For example, you
might want to include in your answer statements about
whether you do or do not regard literacy as a valuable
skill for a Muslim and the reasons that you think

support your view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

91
Based on your understanding of Islam, what do you
think is the Islamic view concerning the origin of
literacy, the value and uses of literacy for
Muslims in particular, and the ultimate objective

or objectives of literacy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you personally think of the Islamic view
on the origin, value, uses, and objectives of
literacy that you stated above? Is this Islamic
view:

a. totally acceptable to you

b. partially acceptable to you

c. totally unacceptable to you

d. other, explain:

 

 

 

 

 

10

92

Based on your understanding of Islam, do you think

that Islam gives Muslim women:

 

 

 

a. an equal right to acquire literacy as it
gives Muslim men

b. more right to acquire literacy than it gives
Muslim men

c. less right to acquire literacy than it gives
Muslim men

d. no right at all to acquire literacy.

e. other, explain:

b. What do you personally think of the Islamic

view on the issue of the right of Muslim
women and literacy that you indicated in the
previous question? Is this Islamic view:

a. totally acceptable to you

b. partially acceptable to you

c. totally unacceptable to you

d. other, explain:

 

 

 

11.

93
If, or when you have children, how important do you
think literacy is for them. List below some, or all of
the objectives that you want to achieve for your
children, and if applicable for yourself, from the

literacy skills that your children acquire.

 

 

 

 

 

12.

Do you think that the current levels of literacy in
particular, and learning in general among Muslims are
in need of further promotion?

a. Yes b. No c. do not know

If yes, explain below how the current levels of

literacy and learning among Muslims can be promoted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

94

If no, why do you think that the current levels of
literacy and learning among Muslims are not in need of

further promotion? Explain your answer below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX B

PARTICIPANTS' CATEGORIZED RESPONSES
AND COMMENTS

95

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

 

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH INVOLVING EAST LANSING 0 MICHIGAN 0 48824-1111
HUMAN SUBJECTS (venue)
206 mm HALL
(517) 353-973.
January 2, |990 IRB#89-570

Juma S. Njadat
l645-L Spartan Village
East Lansing, MI 48823

Dear Mr Njadat:

RE: “LITERACY AS VIEWED BY MUSLIMS LIVING IN AMERICA IFIB# 89-570“

The above project is exempt from full UCRIHS review. I have reviewed the proposed
research protocol and find that the rights and welfare of human subjects appear to be
protected. You have approval to conduct the research.

You are reminded that UCRIHS approval is valid for one calendar year. If you plan to
continue this project beyond one year, please make provisions for obtaining appropriate
UCRIHS approval one month prior to January 2, I99l.

Any changes in procedures involving human subjects must be reviewed by UCRIHS prior
to initiation of the change. UCRIHS must also be notified promptly of any problems
(unexpected side effects, complaints, etc.) involving human subjects during the course of
the work.

Thank you for bringing this project to our attention. If we can be of any future help,
please do not hesitate to let us know.

Sincerely,

    

J hn K Hudzik, Ph.D.
C air, UCRIHS

JKH/sar

cc: P. Munsell

MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

96

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTER EAST LANSING 0 MICHIGAN 0 48824-1033 USA
CEN'IER FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS ' FAX (317) 353-7254
'IEIEPHONE ($17) 333-0000

January 19, 1990

To Whom It May Concern:

Mr. Juma Njadat, my doctoral advisee, is currently working on an
exciting and relevant research project on literacy as viewed by Muslims
living in America. He has the full approval of his doctoral committee
as well as the office at MSU designated to monitor research involving
human subjects.

In order to complete this project Mr. Njadat needs to find Muslim
volunteers willing to participate and provide information.

Any help you can offer Mr. Njadat will not only be appreciated by
him and by me, but will, we believe, add to the knowledge and
understanding needed to positively affect our futures.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me. Thank you.

Sincere; yours ,

rr’
.4 ' .‘
.9463 E. Munsell

Associate Professor
adviser

 

MS U it as Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

97
Appendix B
1. Meaning of Literacy
1. Qualities Describing a Literate Person

A. Coding / Decoding Skills

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. ”Can read and write." 21
2. "Knows how to read the holy Qura'n." 1
3. "[Can] read and write [in] native language." 1
4. "Can interpret and understand what he/she

reads.” 1
5. "Understands Qura'n either in translation or

in Arabic.” 1

B. Mental/ Intellectual Skills and Capacities

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. ”Understands various kinds of books." 3
2. "Develops his opinion on issues using his
knowledge and by listening to others." 1
3. ”Knowledgeable /[has] broad knowledge." 10
4. "Logical." 1
5. ”Can reason out.” 1
6. "Being able to learn when taught a subject
matter." 1
7. "[Able to] make decisions under any condition." 1
8. "Understands his/her religion, culture, and
history." 1
9. "Wise.” 2
10. "[Possesses] analytic skills." 2
ll. "Able to view matters based on a certain
ideology." 1
12. ”Thinks about our destiny and the universe as
a whole." 1
13. "Able to understand a given relevant topic." 1
14. ”Intellectual." l
15. ”[Able] to understand sound media (Radio, TV)
and [can] analyze, correlate, and predict
events happening around the world." 1
l6. "Intelligent." 1
17. ”A person who can comprehend what he/she reads." 2
18. "One who can build out of different statements
a private thought." 1
19. "Knows how to think." 2

98

20. "Can understand what is told to him/her."
21. ”Can understand educated and written language."
22. ”Understands the function of language in life."
23. "Critical understanding of written tests."
24. ”Able to answer difficult questions."
25. ”Has a wide range of knowledge in many areas."
26. "Able to reason independently.”
27. ”Always looking [for] increasing his/[her]
knowledge.”
28. ”A person who thinks rightly without going to
extremes." l
29. "Has a creative mind.” 1
30. "Always thoughtful.” 1
1
1

N P‘HtflhthdP‘

31. "Less dogmatic.”
32. "Can understand intellectual issues and decide."

C. Communicative Skills

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. ”Can communicate with others." 3
2. "Being able to present an idea so others

can understand.” 1
3. ”Receptive to new ideas." 1
4. ”Able to express himself/herself in speech

and writing." 2
5. ”Able to discuss Islamic topics." 1
6. "Able to teach others what he/she knows." 1
7. "Chooses his/her words wisely.” l
8. "Knows how to talk.” 2

D. Social/Behavioral Skills and Capacities
Item Item Item Number
Frequency
1. "Keeps himself/herself abreast of what is

happening around him [her], (in his/ [her]

society, country, and the world." 7
2. ”Takes interest in the well-being of his/ [her]

society." 1
3. ”Has a firm belief and value system." 1
4. "Uses his/[her] time effectively." 1
5. "Able to deal with problems in a mature manner." 1
6. "Respects self by respecting others." 4
7. "Understanding." 2
8. "Patient." 2
9. "Participates in events in his/[her] community." 1
10. ”Has an objective in his/[her] life." 1

99

ll. "Open-minded." 5
12. "Has an open mind to other cultures." 1
13. "Possesses a refined personality." 1
l4. ”Law-abiding.” 2
15. ”Community conscious." 2
16. ”Has enough knowledge to understand how the

world functions.” 1
17. "Does not claim to know everything." 1
18. ”Does not boast snobbishly about his/her

knowledge.” 1
19. ”Uses his/her knowledge to better his/her life

and help humanity in general." 1
20. "Ready for change in knowledge and skill." 1
21. "Knows how to deal with people.” 1
22. ”Easy to deal with." 1
23. ”Willing to develop himself/herself." l
24. "Aware of political relations.” 1
25. "Consistent in his/her thinking and actions." 1
26. "Well—behaved." l
27. ”Serious, honest, and straight." 1
28. ”Hardworking.” l
29. ”Witty." 1

E. Academic Skills

Item Item Item
number Frequency

1. "Knowledgeable in history, geography and

politics." 1
2. ”Well-educated.” 4
3. ”Knows his/[her] area of specialization very

well." 2
4. "[Has] knowledge of daily and basic arithmetic." l
5. "A person who tries to learn more about his/

[her] job [and] area of specialization." 1
6. "Reads a lot to improve his/her knowledge.” 1

100

F. Religious Skills and Inclinations

Item Item
number Item Frequency
1. ”Knowledgeable in most religious issues
and matters.” 4
2. ”Believes in God and worships Him." 1
3. "Able to persuade a non-Muslim to become Muslim." 1
4. "Knows more and more about Qura'n and Sunnah/
sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad/." 2
5. "Able to distinguish between halal/lawful actions/
and harem/unlawful, prohibited actions/." 2
6. ”Tries to comprehend Qura'n and act accordingly." 2
7. ”Praises Allah/ God/ all the time.” 1
8. "For a Muslim, [knows] the basic teachings of
Islam." 1
9. "A person who is conscious of his/her duty to
10. "A person who carefully observes the teachings
» of Islam." . 1
11. "A person who aspires to reach highest degrees
of knowledge." 1
2. Qualities Describing an Illiterate Person
A. Deficiency in Coding/ Decoding Skills.
Item Item Item
number Frequency
1. ”Cannot read or write.“ 27

2. "Does not generally know what is happening
around him/[her], has to rely on comments by
others." 1
3. ”One who can read and write, but cannot use his
/her capacity." 1

101

B. Deficiency in Mental/Intellectual Skills and Capacities.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "Cannot make decisions based upon all the

available facts about an issue." 1
2. ”Limited.” 2
3. "Less knowedgeable than a literate person." 5
4. ”Stupid.” 1
5. "Narrow-minded." l
6. "Lacks human understanding and reasoning." l
7. ”Accepts things on their face-value." l
8. "Unable to put matters in perspective." 1
9. "A person who reads, but does not comprehend

what he/she reads.” 1

10. "One who cannot extract the hidden meaning out

of statements." 1
ll. ”Unable to think about many subjects." 1
12. "Cannot understand intellectual issues." 1
l3. ”Cannot use his ability into his life." 1

C. Deficiency in Social, Behavioral, and
Interactional Skills.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "Does not like to know about things outside

his/her domain." 1
2. "Generally responsible for spreading rumors." l
3. ”Makes no, or little contribution to the well-

being of his/[her] society."_ 1
4. "Judges people quickly.” 1
5. "Can get nervous easily." 1
6. ”Unwilling to absorb new ideas." 1
7. ”Difficult to convince.” l
8. "Tends to isolate himself/[herself] from his/

[her] community." 2
9. "Does not have an objective in his/[her] life." 1
10. "Not using accepted use of language." 1
11. "Close-mind[ed]: only able to understand and

accept [his/her] own culture and ideas." 2
12. ”Does not have stable behavior and relations." 1
13. ”Does not have a stable plan [for] his/her life." 1

l4. "Knows that he/she is illiterate, but unwilling

102

to learn."

15. ”Likes to have fun all the time."

16. ”Very irresponsible."

17. "Difficult to orient or guide.”

18. "Useless."

19. "Does not like to read and learn."

20. "A person who sticks up with old traditions
and [is] not ready to change."

21. "Does not try to educate himself [herself]."

22. ”A person who follows whatever crooked ideas
that he can get from others."

23. ”A person who lives only for himself/herself."

24. "[Difficult] to deal with.”

25 ”Suspicious and block-headed.”

26. "Not easy to deal with at the personal level."

27. "Dependent."

28. "Arrogant."

ldF‘HPJF‘H

HrahaHrabaH P‘H

D. Deficiency in Economic, Functional, and
Survival Skills and Capacities.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. ”Has limited capacities in dealing with the
environment." 1
2. "Has limited opportunities in life." 1
3. "Generally speaking, the first to suffer economic
hardships." 1
4. "Lacks skills." 1
5. "Cannot do basic daily arithmentic.” 1

103
E. Deficiency in Academic Skills

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "Ignorant in science, history, geography, and

politics." 1
2. "Not educated." 3
3. ”Satisfied with getting a certificate and

unwilling to pursue learning." 1
4. "Unable to understand the language of educated

people." 1
5. ”With minimum or no education." 1

F. Deficiency in Communicative Skills.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. "Not able to present an idea so others will

understand.” 1
2. ”Unable to express [his/her] feelings and ideas." 1
3. "Unable to communicate with others.” 1
4. "Unable to understand what is told to him/[her]." 1
5. "Cannot participate in discussions because of

his/her limitations.” 1

G. Deficiency in Literacy-Related Recreational Skills.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "Cannot appreciate books, newspapers and
magazines." 2

104

H. Deficiency in Literacy-Related Accumulative Skills.

Item Item Item

Number Frequency
1. ”Has little background [in general]." 1
2. ”Lacks information." 1
3. ”Gets knowledge from unreliable sources." 1
4. "Does not have enough knowledge in many areas

and aspects." 1

I. Deficiency in Religious Skills, Capacities,
and Inclinations.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. "Being illiterate does not necessarily prevent

a person from understanding Islam and being

a good Muslim because Prophet Muhammad was

illiterate.” 1
2. ”[A person who] knows nothing about Qura'n and

its meanings.” 1
3. ”Does not care to learn Islam." 1
4. "Does not think about life after death." 1
5. "Substantially ignorant [about] the teachings

of Islam." 1
6. ”A person who does not care to know his/her

duty to God." 1
7. "A person who is ignorant about the teachings of

his/her religion.” 1
8. "A person who does not like to belong to Islam." 1

105

3. Meanings and Denotations Associated with the words
Literacy, Literate, Illiterate in the participants'
Native Languages.

Responses to question number 7a, b on the questionnaire:

7 a. If English is not your native language, which word or
words in your native language you think has an equivalent, or
an approximately equivalent meaning to the word ”literacy" in
English? Please use English alphabet letters for transcribing
the word(s) of your native language. b. If you think that
there are some differences between the word "literacy" as it
is used in English, and what the equivalent word in your
native language refers to, please explain these differences
below.

Ser. Native English Equiv. Mean— Mean- Partici Freque-

No. Langu- word. word(s) ing ing -pants' ncy of
age. in parti same as diffe- explana resp.
-cipant's Eng- rent -tions
native lish from comments
language English
1. Arabic Literacy Al-Qir- x "In my native l
aah wal- language,
kitabah literacy means

reading and
writing as well
as comprehen
-ding what

you read."

2. Arabic Literate Muta'a x "Literacy in 1
llem, English means
Muthaqqaf (in my under-
standing)

[the] ability
to read and
write."In
Arabic it
means someone
who has a
high level

of education
(somewhat to
the degree of
speciali-
zation)."

3. Arabic Literacy Ta'a x / 5
leem

4. Arabic

5. Arabic

6. Arabic

7. Arabic

8. Arabic

9. Arabic

106

Literacy Al-Qi- x
raah
w'al
kit-
abah

Literacy Thaqq- x
afah

Literate Muta'allem x
Muthaqqaf,
waiee.

'0

Illite- Ommi ?
rate.

'0

Literate Muta'a- ?
llem

Literacy Marifat x
Al-Qir-
a'ah
wal-kita
bah

10. Arabic Literacy {Al}"ta'a x

ddub".

" I think 1
literacy

in my native
language
means the

art of

words.

Example

[poetry] - "

/ 2

"In terms of 1

criteria

and measure-
ment, of
course there
are differen-
ces."

/ 3

"I have no 1
idea about
the impli-
cations of
[the word]
"literacy"
in English."

”Yes there 1
are some
diffe-
rences. There
is no equi-
valent Arabic
word. I mean
there is no
single word,
but a group
of words like
what I wrote
above.”

"As I under-1
stand the
word "litera
-cy in
English,

107

ll. Arabic Literate Muffa- ?
akker.

12. Arabic Literacy Knowledge ?

13. Arabic Literate Mutaa- ?
llem,
Daris

l4. Arabic Literacy Ilm,
Thaqqafa

it means the
quality or
ability to
read and
write but
[Al]ta'addub
means more
than the
ability to
just read
and write.”

"I do not 1
know what
this word
[literacy]
means in
English."

"[A] l
literate
person in our
native
language
means that
person has
knowledge

and education
level. I do
not know if
this is the
same meaning
in English
for the word
"literacy."

/ 1

"Equivalent 1
words in
Arabic are
deeper and
not limited
to the
ability to
read and
write."

108

15. Arabic Literate Mutaa-
llem

l6. Arabic Literate Ilm/ or
Ma'rifah

l7. Arabic Literate Muta'a- x
llem,
Muthaqqaf.

18. Arabic Literacy ?

19. Arabic Literacy Al-Ta'- x
leem.

"Literacy inl
English means
reading and
writing. But
in my native
language
[literacy
means] read-
ing, writing
and arith-
metic."

"The word in 1
English does
not include
the knowledge
in Science of
religion,
while in
Arabic it
includes a
religious
meaning.”

"I cannot 1
think of an
equivalent
term that

has the

exact sense."

"I think in 1
English lit-
eracy means
the ability to
read and write.
In Arabic the
word
Al-ta'leem
signifies
something more
than
"literacy."

It may mean a
good deal of
education in

109

20. Arabic Literacy Al-Thaqq ?
-afah

21. Arabic Literacy ?

22. Arabic Literacy Ta'aleem x
or Ma'ari
-fah

23. Ben- Literacy Shikkha
gali

general."

”Unfortuna— l
tely my answer
to literacy is
according to
my understan-
ding [of]

the Arabic
word which
means a well-
educated
person with an
open-mind
[for] change".
In English itl
[literacy] is
the three R's:
reading
writing, and
arithmetic.

In Islam
[Arabic] it

is four R's:
reading,
writing,
arithmetic

and religion."

/

"Literacy"
in English
means
writing,
reading
ability. In
my [language]
country it
means educa-
tion
religious
and worldly
as a whole."

1

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

Malay Literacy

Fulfu Literacy
lae/
Hausa

Spani Literacy
-sh

Urdu Literacy

Urdu Literacy

Tahu,
Menulis
Dan
Membaca

Masani

Liter-
a do/
Litera-
tura.

Khaw-
andah/
parah-
likha

Taleem
yafta

"No differ- 1
ence."

"In my lan- 1
guage-
"Masani"

means [a]
learned
person as
opposed to
"Jah'ali"
which has the
same meaning
with English
"illiterate."
Also literacy
is not applied
to reading and
writing [as in
] English, but
{to}

knowledge

of Islam

[as well]."

/

"There are l
[a] couple of
words:
1.Khawandah
2.parahlikha."

"The Urdu 1
word
"Taleem/yafta
means educated
whereas lite-
racy refers

to a state of
being
literate."

111

II. Origin of Literacy.

1. Divine Origin.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "[The origin of literacy is] Almighty Allah
/God/. ” 2

2. "The origin [of literacy] is entrenched in the
Qura'n:
”Proclaim! (or Reed!)
In the name
Of thy Lord and Cherisher,
Who created __ ”
(Qura.n, 96: 1) 7

3. "In Islam, Allah /God/ is the begining and end
of everything.” 1

4. "The literacy origin, value, uses, and
objectives are derived from Islamic teachings
and I accept them totally.” 2

5. "According to my knowledge of Islam, the origin
of literacy goes back to the time when
Allah/God/, the lord of the whole universe,
taught Adam names for everything.” 1

III. Value and Uses of Literacy
1. Personal /Judgementa1 Criteria.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "Literacy is an important thing for a Muslim,
but not necessarily to be a good Muslim." 2

2. "Literacy is a valuable skill for any human
being." 2

3. "Literacy does not necessarily weaken the
behavior of a good Muslim." 1

112

4. "A literate Muslim is far much better than
an illiterate one." 1

5. "It is possible to find an illiterate Muslim
who is much better than a literate Muslim." 1

6. "Islam can be understood on various levels depend-
ing on the ability and willingness of every
Muslim." , 1

7. "Literacy is a basic skill that Muslims should
have [in order to] use [it] in this life." 1

2. Educational Criteria.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "Literacy makes a person become a better
Muslim by gaining more knowledge to cope with
various problems." 1

2. "Muslims need to be literate because a man
without education is not a complete man." 1

3. "Literacy is valuable for obtaining knowledge." 1

3. Communicative Criteria.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "Literacy is important for reading printed
material and for interpersonal communication.” 1

2. "Literacy is important for self-expression." l
3. "Literacy will help Muslims to be more Open to

the world and try to live peacefully with other
nations on earth." 1

113

4. Economic / Functional Criteria

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "A Muslim should be literate and educated in
order to be productive and successful." 2

5. Political Criteria

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "We need to be educated so that we do not get
enslaved by others, so that we can be
independent." 1

2. "Literacy enables a Muslim to be powerful, not
easy to be betrayed." l

6. Religious, Missionary, and Pragmatic Criteria.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. "Literacy is valuable for a Muslim because it

is essential for understanding nature, things
in the universe and past generations, which
is an obligation for a Muslim based on Qura'n." 2

2. ”Literacy is important for a Muslim to spread
Islam and Islamic values and ideology which
is a noble mission for every Muslim." 7

3. "Literacy is important because Qura'n, Hadith/
sayings of Prophet Muhammad/, Sunnah/ sayings
and actions of prophet Muhammad/, and the whole
Islamic history has been preserved in [written
language]." 1

4. "Literacy is important becuase the first word
revealed to prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
was Iqra'/read/." 8

lo.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

114

"Literacy helps in religious as well as worldly
studies."

"Literacy provides a Muslim with the chance to
acquire knowledge and information about his/[her]
faith and beliefs."

"Being a good Muslim is being literate."
”Literacy makes a Muslim closer to Allah/God/."

"Becoming literate is a religious obligation for
a Muslim."

"Literacy is very important for the advancement
of the Muslim ummah/nation/.”

"Literacy helps a Muslim to read and recite
Qura'n [and read] other valuable books about
Islam to strengthen his/[her] belief.”

”Literacy is important to put sharia/Islamic
law/in action."

"Literacy is important to study the teachings
of Islam and understand the true meaning of
Islam."

"Literacy is important to distinguish between
Islamic values and man-made cultural
restrictions."

”[Literacy is important for Muslims] to
safeguard our culture and religion, and to get
our view-points across without having our
religion misunderstood."

”Literacy is mandatory for a Muslim men or women
because the prophet said: Seeking ilm /knowledge/
is mandatory for every Muslim, men or woman",
and "Seek knowledge from cradle to grave."

"[Literacy is important in order for a Muslim] "to
serve and live according to the dictates
of Islam”.

”Literacy is important for a Muslim in order "to
worship our Creator, Allah/God/ who says:

I have only created

Jinns and men, that

They may serve me." (Qura'n, ch. 51:55).

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

115

"Literacy is important for using our environment
according to the teachings of Allah/God/."

”Literacy is important for utilizing and
benefiting from the resources that Allah/God/
has bestowed on humanity."

"Literacy is useful because Islam has always
encouraged peOple to know how to read and write."

”Literacy is obligatory for Muslims in order to
know their religion and the world around them."

”Literacy is essential for success in this life
and in the hereafter.”

”It would be impossible for a Muslim to fulfil
[his/her role] in the world without being
literate."

"Literacy is important for understanding Islam,
Qura'n, interpreting it, and implementing its
teachings."

”Literacy is a very basic skill for a Muslim
because Islam is a religion of science, reason
and understanding. Literacy is the basis for
these qualities.”

"A Muslim needs literacy in order to fulfil his/
her role as an active, responsible and affective
person."

"Literacy is essential for examining the
ingredients of the food that one buys,
especially in the U.S..”

"The Muslim's life depends on understanding the
teachings of Qura'n and Hadith / sayings and
actions of prophet Muhammad/ as part of [his/
her] daily life. Therefore reading is important
to understand these teachings."

"The more a Muslim person reads, the better
Muslim he/[she] becomes.”

"Literacy plays the biggest role in the life
of a good Muslim."

"Islam respects and approves of muslims who have
knowledge.”

116

33. ”Being literate makes it easier for a person
to learn the teachings of Islam, especially
in learning Islamic terminology, the
denotations of these terminology, and the
purpose that the Legislator, [God] has behind
giving them to humanity." 3

34. "Being illiterate makes one liable to misunder—
stand and misinterpret Islam." 1

35. "A literate Muslim can teach people of other
religions the principles of Islam." 2

36. "A literate Muslim can teach other illiterate
Muslims." 1

37. ”Seeking knowledge and searching for truth are
highly regarded in Islam:
”The word of wisdom is the lost
property of the believer, so wherever
he finds it he has a better right to it"
(saying by prophet Muhammad). l

38. ”I think literacy is valuable to a Muslim because
first of all Islam itself has to be learned.
So if a person is illiterate, that means
he/[she] cannot understand even
his/[her] religion." 1

IV. Objectives of Literacy.
A. The Ultimate Objectives of Literacy.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "The ultimate objective of literacy is to promote
[the] will of Allah/God/ on earth, and establish
an Islamic society which is not governed by kings
and dictators who do not feel accountable to
anyone. Promoting the will of Allah/God/ will
automatically bring peace and harmony among the
citizens of the world." 1

2. "Understanding Islam and obtaining knowledge." 1
3. "The first verse in the glorious Qura'n commands a

human being to read, to learn, and to know his
Creator and all creatures around him." 1

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

117

"Spreading Islam, calling other people [for]
Islam."

"To become a good Muslim who really follows the
religion."

"The ultimate objective of literacy is to know
God: "Those truly fear God

Among His servants,

Who have knowledge", (Qura'n, 35: 28).

”To learn islamic teachings and pass them from
generation to generation.”

"The ultimate goal of literacy in Islam is to
develop a full understanding of religion first,
and second to master other scientific fields so
that Muslims will be leaders in this world and
spread the message of Islam all over it."

"Literacy is useful to acquire the knowledge that
guides a Muslim to know Allah/God/ better and
worship Him in the proper way."

"Literacy is essential to acquire the knowledge
that helps [a Muslim] discover the laws

of the universe and its Creator, so there can
be appreciation of the greatness and the will of
Allah/God] and utilization of natural resources
in [the] proper way and effectively."

"A Muslim does not seek literacy (like
everything else) for literacy's sake, rather,
for the benefits derived from it. It is a means
not an end. Literacy enables a person to be a
better Muslim, and to carry out his/her duties
in this life."

"Literacy is essential to understand Allah/God/
through understanding Qura'n."

"[Literacy is essential for Muslims] because we
need to learn science, history and other
cultures [in order] to relate everything
together for a complete understanding of our
life and destiny."

"The ultimate objective of literacy for the
Muslims is to help them understand Islam
accurately and implement [it] more fully."

118

15. "The ultimate objective [of litercy] for
Muslims is to be positive, active, and
effective in society, and lead and teach
others a successful Islamic life." 1

l6. "Literacy in Islam is an objective without
which a Muslim cannot survive." 1

17. ”I think that the ultimate goal of literacy is
to know Allah/God/ well, [and] to worship Him
in [the] right manner." 1

18. "To bring light to people from the darkness of
ignorance to the light of Islam." 1

19. "The ultimate objective of literacy lies in the
Qura'nic verses:
" l. Proclaim ! (or Reed) In the
name of thy Lord and Chericher,
Who created -
2. Created man, out of
(A mere) clot Of congealed blood"
(Qura'n, ch. 96: 1,2).

The objective is to build a literate, knowledge-
able nation which will liberate human beings from
all kinds of slavery in the universe and direct
their hearts and deeds to God only. Literacy

should also be used as a means for obeying and
pleasing Allah/God.” l

20. "The ultimate objective of literacy is to educate
others and use it to advance the cause of Islam
and help the community one is living in." l

21. "[The] ultimate objectives [of literacy is] to

benefit humanity in both this life and [in] the
hereafter." 1

119

B. Objectives Behind Providing Literacy for
(One's) Children:

1. Functional/Survival Objectives.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. ”Earn his /her living respectably in this

world." . , 4
2. "Make them powerful." I
3. "Make them productive." l
4. "To improve their life.” 1
5. "Understand life, so they can deal with it

effectively.” 1
6. ”Use literacy to learn, understand, [and]

analyze." l
7. ”Success in the profession of their choice." 2
8. ”To be better in life in general." 1

9. ”Knowledge, skills, and ability are ingredients
for better life and career today." 1

10. "Children of today are parents of tommorrow,
so they have to be ready to be more knowledge-
able about the past in order to be good
parents.” 1

11. ”To specialize in some kind of sciences, or to
learn how to get a job." 1

12. "Be able to use (their) education to help them-
selves and others.” 2

13. "Be able to pass on knowledge to the coming
generations." 1

120
2. General, Cultural Objectives.

Item Item Item
Number ‘ Frequency

1. ”Obtain higher degrees of learning not merely

[become] literate." l
2. "Be aware of global issues." 3
3. ”Be free-thinking men and women." 1
4. "Help them understand the importance of their

birth right.” 1
5. ”Literacy is as important and necessary for our

children as their existence in this life." 1

6. ”Literacy in my point of view is as important
(for) my children as water [is] for life." 1

7. ”I want them [my children] to take literacy
seriously and not ignore any part [of it]." 1

3. Religious /Moral Objectives

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. ”[I] like [my] children to become useful

citizens of the world in accordance with the

teachings of Islam." 1
2. "Learn more about Islam and modern sciences so

that they may practice religion with knowledge

and confidence." 2
3. "To acquire Islamic knowledge and its importance

in daily life.” 5
4. "To help them [children] acquire a good literacy

skill that will lead them to behave and act

Islamically in their daily life." 4
5. "To propagate goodness and forbid wrong doing." 1
6. "To know God as one and the only one God." 1

7. "To recite Qura'n and understand its meaning." 1

121

8. "Have a better understanding of their religion
and teach others our way of life."

9. "To pass Islam on to their children."

10. ”To keep the chain of this great religion
growing."

11. ”Understand their religion, history, culture,
etc."

12. ”Commitment to Islam and Muslim's welfare."

13. ”By allowing my children the chance to become
literate, I hope to get the rewards in the
hereafter as promised by Allah/God/."

14. "To teach them best manners: "Teach your children
the best of manners" (saying by Prophet
Muhammad).”

15. ”[To] read Qura'n in Arabic and learn Arabic so
that they understand Qura'n.”

16. ”[To] learn English so that they can convey the
message of Qura'n to others."

17. "To spread Islam."
18. ”To present a good example for the world."
19. "To establish Islam on earth."

20. "To know their culture which is part of their
religion.”

21. "It is important for my children to be able to
read and comprehend the different types of books
including Islamic literature since Islam is the
law of their daily life."

22. ”They [children] should acquire Islamic
literacy in order to understand Islam and
become good Muslims."

23. "I want my children to know why they are here [on]
this earth, and let them get the knowledge which
is required to satisfy the goal of their
existence [in the best possible manner]."

24. "Literacy will be important for my children as a
tool to fully understand the meanings of the
Islamic teachings: Qura'n, sunnah/sayings and
actions of prophet Muhammad/,[and] sciences." 1

25. "My objective behind providing literacy for my
children is to help them cope with, and confront
the purely materialistic life that we have in
this age." 1

26. "I want my children to devote their knowledge
to God and to the Muslim nation." 1

27. "I want my children to become leaders in
Islamic thought." 1

28. "It is indispensable for children to be literate
because without this skill they can never be
good Muslims.” 1

29. "Literacy is important for children so they will
become good muslim leaders." 1

30. "Literacy helps children to be more enlightened,
open-minded muslims.” l

31. "[To] know Islam very well to build up their
personality."

32. ”[To] be educated in both religious and
worldy affairs." 1

33. "[To] be able to work towards guaranteeing their
lives in the hereafter.” l
V. Suggested Methods, Policies, and Procedures for

Fostering and promoting Literacy among Muslims.
1. Financial and Quantitiative Methods and Policies.

Item Item Item

Number Frequency

1. "Financially support people who wish to get

education but cannot afford it." 1

2. ”Allocation of larger budgets for education." 1

3. "Reduce spending on arms and use the money [for]

122

education." 1

123

4. "Building schools in all Islamic countries." 3
5. "Providing free education.” 1
6. "Provide books and libraries to the public even

in remote villages.” 1
7. "Establishment of more universities." 1
8. ”Providing adult education for the grown ups." 3
9. "Hard work.” 1

10. ”Promote and increase access to educational
facilities.” 1

2. Legal Methods and Policies.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency

1. ”Compulsory high school education for the young
members of society.” 3

3. Technical Methods and Policies.

Item, Item Item
Number Frequency

1. "Mass media should be exploited to educate the
young and the old." 5

2. ”[Revise] and improve the curricula.” 1

3. "Improve the techniques of acquiring and teaching
literacy skills." 1

4. "Raise [the educational level] of teachers." 1

5. "Muslims should use all modern techniques to
promote Islam regardless of [their] source." 1

6. ”[Provide] a systematic Arabic language teaching
program which is well promoted, professionally
planned for future generations in this part of
the Western world.” 1

124

7. "Literacy is dynamic, [not] static. When we are
faced with new ideas, problems, situations, etc.,
we need to acquire the literate practices that

enable us to achieve our aims." 1
8. "Preparation of well-skilled teachers." 1
9. "Purifying education from external influence." 1

4. Educational /Promotional Methods and Policies.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. "Increase awareness about education." 1

2. "Increase awareness that literacy is equally
important for men and women." 1

3. "[Stress the point] that learning does not end at
the institution level." 2

4. "Promote the status of the teachers and give a
more prestigious status to scholars." l

5. "Further education qualitatively and
quantitatively." 1

6. ”It is important for all Muslims to understand
that reading and writing are not sufficient for
a Muslim. It is important to comprehend what you
read since this is the only way to make use of
what you read." 1

7. ”We should make people realize the importance of

literacy and what it means." 1
8. "By general lectures and educational circles." 1
9. "Through special courses.” 1

10. "Encouragement of individuals to pursue
education through their careers, (to enhance
their careers)." l

125

5. Political Methods and Procedures.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. "[By] unifying Muslims." 1

2. "Leaders of states (kings or presidents) should
be more flexible to change and should encourage
Muslims to educate themselves, or at least give
them more freedom to learn and practice Islam." 1

3. "First and foremost, the so called Islamic
countries should do away with their present
systems of governments that are detrimental to
an Islamic atmosphere which allows proper pursuit
of knowledge." 1

4. ”Muslims are in desperate need [today] for
more education and freedom." 1

6. Religious/ Qualitative Methods.

Item Item Item
Number Frequency
1. ”Maintain a balance between secular knowledge,
or knowledge for secular purposes, and religious
knowledge." 1

2. ”Muslims should take care to learn more about their
religion because Islam is not only a ritual or
ceremonial religion, but it is a way of life.” 1

3. ”The only way to promote literacy among Muslims
is to promote their understanding of the
teachings of Islam as revealed in the holy Qura'n:
"The best of you is he who learned Qura'n and
taught it [to others]" (saying by Prophet
Muhammad)." 4

4. ”Muslims should be encouraged to acquire high
education and devote their knowledge to push the
Islamic nation forward." 1

5. "Educating Muslims about what it means to
be [a] Muslim, and the role they are expected
to play." 1

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

126

"Bringing together literate and illiterate
Muslims, and encouraging the literate to
share their knowledge."

”Muslims should be taught more
about preparing themselves for the hereafter."

”Do more research on Qura'n."

"Focus on Islam as a gracious source of guidance
and literacy."

"Islamic centers and general seminars can help in
this regard.”

"Fathers should spend more time with [their]
children and wives to teach them [literacy
through] Islam.”

”If we teach our children how to read Qura'n
from the first years [of] their lives, we will
achieve excellent results in this field.”

”Muslims need [Islamic learning] in order to use
it in their daily life.”

"Islamic learning is the only way to help the
world survive and achieve the purpose of its
existence.”

”Muslim scholars should be given an
opportunity to play their role as leaders,
not only as clergyman as some try to label them."

”Islamic teachings should be made available for
every Muslim male and female.”

"Islamic programs and curricula need to be
revised and reconstructed to meet [new ideas and
changes].”

"Islam is a way of life and unless Muslims
practice [it] with faith they will not succeed."

"The mosques are the most appropriate places for
education and meetings, not for prayers only.”

”Muslims have not established the right form of
education. I want them to revise and redesign
their entire education curriculum so that it
conforms to Sharia/Islamic law/."

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

127

”Encouraging Muslims to widen their scope of
knowledge through reading as many books as they

can, attending classes and seminars about Islam

on a regular basis and helping illiterate

persons to promote their reading abilities." 1

”Muslims need people who are skilled in order to
teach them [principles of Islam]." 1

”Give the sciences of Qura'n and Sunnah/

sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad/

a more important role as a way of life here

and hereafter. Emphasize other sciences like
mathematics, physics, etc. It should be made

clear that God created these materials [sciences]

to help us worship Him and thank Him more.

We need to further integrate Islam in our
educational system." 1

”A clear understanding of Islam." 1

"Give proper education to women who are the

first teachers of the child.” 1

”Generally revert to the Islamic concept of

learning." 1

"[Literacy can be promoted among Muslims] through

special attention to children." 1
VI.

The Right of Muslim Women to Literacy: Responses
by some participants to question number (10a, b).

10a. Based on your understanding of Islam, do you think that

Islam gives Muslim women:

a. an equal right to acquire literacy as it gives
Muslim men.

b. more right to acquire literacy than it gives Muslim
men.

c. less right to acquire literacy than it gives Muslim
men s '

d. no right at all to acquire literacy.

e. other, explain.

128

10b. What do you personally think of the Islamic view on the
issue of the right of Muslim women and literacy that you
indicated in the previous question? Is this Islamic
view:
a. totally acceptable to you.
b. partially acceptable to you.
c. totally unacceptable to you.
d. other, explain.

Note: All of the participants whose comments are provided
below chose answer (a) to both parts of the above
question, i.e., that Islam gives Muslim women "an
equal right to acquire literacy as it gives Muslim
men" and that this Islamic view is "totally
acceptable to you.

Response Partici Response Response
number -pant's Frequency
sex
1. M "Islam asks every Muslim in general 1

to go for it."

2. M "... When in Islam it is stated "seek 1
knowledge even if it be in China”, no
distinction was made between man and woman."

3. ? ”As Muslims we do not make any distinction 2
among people regardless of whether [they
are men or women], people differ from each
other in terms of being a good Muslim, and
Allah/God/ knows [that]."

4. M "Islam gives women the right to study and 1
to educate themselves. Islam encourages
every Muslim to learn without limiting that
[to] men. Also, Islam tells that Allah
gives the best rewards for the man who
encourages and supports his dependent women
to learn, which shows how Islam looks at this
issue."

10.

11.

129

"We as Muslim women must be knowledgeable
in all aspects of life and to be literate.
We spend more time with our children and
must be able to teach them to read and
write, [help] them with their studies.
This requires knowledge in both English
and Arabic, knowledge in both American
[and] Arabic cultures."

”But we (as Muslim men) refuse to give
them that full right.”

"Islam gives an equal right to acquire
literacy to every person, be it a woman,
a man or a child."

"We should not forget when referring to

this sensitive issue the hadith/saying by
Prophet Muhammad/ "seeking knowledge is a
must for every Muslim and Muslimah/female
Muslim/. Notice the specification of sex."

"Based on the Islamic point of view,
people are equal in front of God. It
includes of course men and women. To
illustrate this [instance], I can mention
that Islam allows a woman to leave her
house even without her husband's
[consent] if she is seeking Islamic
knowledge that she cannot obtain at her
home for any reason, even if it is her
husband [that is] acting as a barrier.”

"Islam gives Muslim women an equal right
to learn, to work, and share with men the
responsibilities of life. Muslim women
are protected by Islam by not interacting
with foreign men, unless it is a necessity."

”[Islam gives Muslim women an equal right

to acquire literacy as it gives Muslim men]
"with the exception that some fields are not
suitable for women to learn. On the other
hand, some fields are not suitable for men."

130

VII. '

Degree of Adherence to the Teachings of Islam: Reservations
on Self-evaluation by participants.

Qualified responses to question number 1 on the question-
naire: Circle the one figure below that you think best
represents the degree of your adherence to the teachings of
Islam in your daily life as well as in your dealings with

others:
a. 100%, b. 75%, c. 50%, d. 25%, e. less than 25%, f. none.

Response Figure Response
number chosen

to repre-

sent'the

adherence

to the

teachings

of Islam

1. 75% "The reason why I circled 75% is because
there are certain Islamic teachings that I
am not able to adhere to 100% here in the
U.S.A. and because of school work. For
instance, I do [not] always pray
in time, the way I am [supposed] to.”

2. 75% "There are many things which I do or do
not because of the circum-
stances we deal with every day which
lessens my adherence to the teachings
of Islam.”

3. 75% "I try to be the best Muslim I can. It
is hard to adhere to all aspects
of the religion when living in U.S. -
trying to remain a part of this society
(U.S.) and remain true to the religion.
Dress restrictions are my downfall. I do
not wear hejab/ acceptable Islamic dress
for women/. I try to dress conservative
American."

8.
9.

10.

11.

12.

75%

75%

100%

75%

75%
100%

100%

50%

75%

131

”In fact, I react to others based on our
Islamic teachings. Our Islamic teachings
(some of [them]) were founded before
Islam like kindness, generosity, etc. In
[other words], Islamic teachings are
humane by nature."

”I think the correct answer should have
been 85% or 90%, but since there is only
75% and 100% options, I choose to be a
little bit modest."

"100% In Sha'a Allah/God willing/. I
practice daily prayers. [I] fast in
Ramadan/fasting month for Muslims/. I made
visit to Mecca, (Haj)/pilgrimage/. I deal
with others in a [a] good manner and
according to the teachings of Islam."

”In a non-Muslim country like the U.S.A.,
sometimes a Muslim finds it hard to adhere
100% to the teachings of Islam. Examples
of such instances: banking and financial
dealings, talking openly to the opposite
sex, contributing (through taxes) not to
the cause of Allah/God/, health insurance,
car insurance, etc."

"75% or better."

”Islam is a way and method of life and
living. It is not a religion in

the Western sense. Therefore if you
do not live according to Islamic
teaching[s], you are considered a
deviant being.”

”Islam gives us the best way of dealing
with others in our daily

life and prevents us from evil
thinking.”

"It is very hard to answer this question
because a Muslim no matter [how much] he
or she achieves in Islamic teachings, he
or she should always keep in his or her
mind that he or she will never

represent Islam 100%."

"I try hard but not as hard as I should
or I would. I do not drink, go to bars,
etc."

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

100%

100%'

50%

75%

none

132

”We think of Allah/God/ all the time and
in everything we do. We obey Him and we
do not do things He [prohibited]."

"This [100% adherence to Islamic
teachings] is what I strive for.
However, the actual could be a little
less."

”Sometimes in the work place you devote

most of your concentration [to] your
job. So I try to deal with the
non-Muslims the Islamic way, but
sometimes you find yourself failing
to do so."

"It is hard to come up with an estimate
of your adherence to Islam. The goal of
my life is to obey the teachings of
Islam, but only Allah/God/ knows as to
how much efforts are fruitful."

"Difficult to evaluate one-self."

BIBLIOGRAPHY/ GENERAL REFERENCES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, C. Arnold. Literacy and Schooling on the
Development Threshold: Some Historical Cases.
Education and Economic Development. Eds. C. Arnold
Anderson and Jean Bowman. Chicago: Aldine Company,
1965. 347-362.

Bataille, Leon, ed. A Turning Point for Literacy: Adult
Education for Development. The Spirit and Declaration
of Persepolis: Proceedings of the International
Symposium for Literacy, Persepolis, Iran 3 to 8
September 1975. New York: Pergamon Press, 1976.

Bogdan, Robert C. and Sari Knopp Biklen. Qualitative
Research for Education: An Introduction to Theory and
Methods. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1982.

 

Cairns, J.C. Literacy: Another View. Interchange, 9-2
(1978): 21-26.

 

Eickleman, Dale F. The Art of Memory: Islamic Education
and Its Social Reproduction. Comparative Studies in
Society and History 20(1978): 485-516.

 

Ezzaki, A., J. Spratt, and D.A. Wagner. Childhood Literacy
Acquisition in Rural Morocco: Effects of Language
Differences and Quranic Preschooling. The Future of
Literaey in a Changing World. Ed. D.A. Wagner.
Pergamon Comparative and International Education Series
1. New York: Pergamon Press, 1987, 159-173.

 

Goody, Jack, ed. Literacy in Traditional Societies.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968.

Goody, Jack and Ian Watt. "The Consequences of Literacy."
Comparetive Studies in Society and History 5 (1957):
304-345.

Graff, Harvey. Literacy Past and Present: Critical
Approaches in the Literacy/Society Relationship.
Interchange 9.2(1978): 1-21.

133

134

Harman, David. ”Illiteracy: An Overview?" Harvard,
Educational Review, 40(1970): 226-241.

 

. Illiteracy: A National Dilemma. New York:
Cambridge, Book Company, 1987.

 

 

Hunter, Carmen St. John and David Harman. Adult Illiteracy
in the United States: A Report to the Ford Foundation.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1979.

 

Levine, Kenneth.' The Social Context of Literacy. Boston:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986.

 

McClelland, David C. Does Education Accelerate Economic
Growth? Economic Development and Cultural Change
14(1966): 257-278.

Olson, David R. From Utterance to Text: The Bias of
Language in Speech and Writing. Harvard Educational
Review, 47.3(1977): 257—281.

Patton, Michael Quinn. Qualitative Evaluation Methods.
Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1980.

Robinson, Jay L. The Users and Uses of Literacy. Literacy
for Life: The Demand for Readinggand Writing. Eds.
Richard W. Bailey and Robin Melaine Fosheim. New York:
The Modern Language Association of America, 1983. 3-
18.

Rosenthal, Franz. Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of
Knowledge in Medieval Islam. Leiden, Netherlands:
E.J. Brill, 1970.

Scribner, Sylvia. Literacy in Three Metaphors.
Perspectives on Literacy. Ed. Eugene R. Kintgen, Barry
M. Kroll and Mike Rose. Carbondale, Illinois:
Southern Illinois University Press, 1988, 71-81.

Scribner, Sylvia and Michael Cole. The Psychology of
Literacy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press, 1981.

 

Shalaby, Ahmad. History of Muslim Education. Beirut,
Lebanon: Dar Al-Kashshaf, 1954.

 

"Statistics and Figures.” Al-Amal, 148(1989): 17.

Street, Brian. Literacy in Theory and Practice. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1984.

135

Tuman, Myron C. A Preface to Literacy: An Inquiry Into
Pedagggy, Practice, and Progress. Tuscaloosa:
University of Alabama Press, 1987.

UNESCO. Statistical Yearbook 1989. Paris: UNESCO, 1989.

Wagner, Daniel A. When Literacy Isn't Reading (and Vice
Versa). Toward A New Understanding of Literacy. Ed.
Merald E. Wrolstad and Dennis F. Fisher. New York:
Praeger Publishers, 1986. 319-331.

Wormald, C.P. The Uses of Literacy in Anglo-Saxon England
and Its Neighbours. Transactions_of the Royal
Historical Society, 5th series. 27 (1977): 95-114.

Zinsser, Caroline. For the Bible Tells Me So: Teaching
Children in.a Fundamentalist Church. The Acquisition
of Literacy: Ethneggephic Perspectives. Advances in
Discourse Processes 21. Ed. Bambi Schieffelin and
Perry Gilmore. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing
Corporation, 1986: 55-71.

 

GENERAL REFERENCES

Ali, Maulana Muhammad. A Manual of Hadith. London,
England: Curzon Press, 1978.

Erickson, Frederick. Qualitative Methods in Research on
Teaching. Handbook of Research on Teaching. Ed. M.C.
Wittrock. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company, 1986: 119-161.

Graff, Harvey J. Literacy in History: An Interdisciplinagy
Research Bibliography. New York: Garland Publishing,
1981.

Hirsch, E.D., Jr. Cultural Literacy: What Every American
Needs to Know. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,
1987.

Hunt, Marguerite J. Literacy: A Selected Biblioggepny.
Public Administration Series 2539. Monticello,
Illinois: Vance Bibliographies, 1988.

 

Hunwick, J.O. Literacy and Scholarship in Muslim West
Africa in the Pre-colonial Period: Two Public Lectures
Delivered at the Institute of African Studies,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka on 22nd and 23rd March,
1972. Nsukka: The Institute of African Studies,
University of Nigeria, 1974.

Husen, Torsten and T. Neville Postethwaite, eds. in chief.
The Internationel Eneyclopedia of Education: Research
and Studies. 10 vols. New York: Pergamon Press,
1985, vol. 5.

Jacob, Evelyn. Clarifying Qualitative Research: A Focus on
Traditions. Educational Researcher 17.1 (1987): 16-
24. .

Judy, Stephen N. The ABCs of Literacy: A Guide for Parents
and Educators. New York: Oxford University Press,
1980.

Lerner, Denial. The Passing of Traditional Society:
Modernizingithe Middle East. New York: The Free
Press, 1958.

136

137

Lofland, John. Styles of Reporting Qualitative Research.
The American Sociologist 9(1974): 101-111.

Obeid, R.A. Islamic Theory of Human Development. Husen and
Postlethwaite 2716-2719.

Roberts, Linda Pavian. Trying to Succeed: A Descriptive
Study of Perceptions of Success in Teaching/Learning
Spanish in a High School Classroom. Dissertation,
Michigan State University, 1988.

Spradley, J.P. Participant Observation. New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, 1980.

 

The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation, and Commentary. Trans.
A. Yusuf Ali. Brentwood, Maryland: Amana Corp., 1983.

Wagner, D.A. Islamic Education: Traditional Pedagogy and
Contemporary Aspects. Husen and Postlethwaite 2714-
2716 0

White, Anthony G. Literacy U.S.A.: A Selected
Biblipgraphy. Public Administration Series 2180.
Monticello, Illinois: Vance Bibliographies, 1987.

 

Yousif, A.W. Islam and Adult Education. Husen and
Postlethwaite 2711-2714.

 

 

HICHIG

RN STRTE UNIV. LIBRARIES
llHIWUIIIIIllIllWilliIllllllllllfllllllllllHlllllll
31293007530011